Being Careful
by ReneesWings
Summary: A chance meeting brings Tony trouble and some new friends in Gibbs, Abby and Ducky.
1. Chapter 1

"Gibbs!"

Special Agent Gibbs saw the blur of chains and spikes come flying at him and braced himself for the tackle hug he knew was coming. He quickly moved the files from one hand to another so his friend wouldn't crush them, stifling the grunt of exertion as all the air was forced out of him when the young woman's feet came off the ground and her arms went around his neck.

"Hi Abs."

"Did you get him? You're okay right? Everyone is alright? You took him down no problem? What am I saying? Of course you did! It's you! You're Gibbs! The super silver fox of justice! The bane of criminals near and far. The man that Chuck Norris looks up to. The guy that Superman has a poster of. I mean you're-"

"Abby." Gibbs interrupted quietly, shaking that cup of Caf-Pow he had brought her and trying to fight the smile her rambling speech had inspired.

"Thanks Gibbs!"

She snatched the cup from his hands and began to slurp the sugar infused drink down. Abby pranced across the room and began shutting down her machines, celebrating the end of her shift with the normal amount of gusto, saving the silencing of her music for last.

Gibbs smiled watching her and leaned against the table in the middle of her lab tossing the folders on the table. He really didn't want to look at them anyway.

"You called me down here for a reason Abs?"

She laughed and skipped over to sit next to Gibbs.

"Patience Gibbs, good things come to those who wait. But I suppose that doesn't apply to you because you always seem to get what you want you never wait for it because you have no sense of patience. But then again you don't need a sense of patience because you are, after all, Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs! You know, now that I think about it, this is kind of circular logic..."

She glanced up to see Gibbs staring at her, waiting for her to stop talking and get to the point. She grinned at him and moved closer to him, knowing that he was waiting. For her. Because she was special. Maybe he was patient after all. And maybe she shouldn't push it.

"Alright alright, point taken. So...bossman...whole team is off rotation. Even me and Ducks, what are you doing with the free time?"

Gibbs sighed and glanced at the clock. It had been a really long weekend and he was ready to go home. He looked back over at Abby and saw her sparkling hopeful eyes and felt something melt.

It was Abby.

How could he not answer?

He opened his mouth to reply but was cut off by the vibrant goth.

"Wait wait wait! Let me guess! Basement, boat, bourbon?"

Gibbs smirked and reached out an arm, drawing her close.

"Sounds about right."

Abby looked up at him for a minute, her blue eyes wide and expectant. He found himself fighting a smile again at her look and he patiently waited. See he could wait. Sometimes. When he needed to.

"Well?"

"Well what Abs?"

She huffed and crossed her arms.

"My plans Gibbs. Aren't you going to ask me my plans?"

"Abby."

"Alright, alright, Gibbs. You are no fun. An old friend from Baltimore called me a couple weeks ago. I'm heading up to spend the weekend. I can't wait to see her. She's going to show me all these great clubs, take me to all these great spots, oh I can't wait to see her! Me and Lottie were inseparable in college. Abby and Lottie. You couldn't have one without the other. She's been in California the past few years, she hasn't been this close in so long. I can't wait to see her!"

Gibbs smiled and pulled her into a tight hug.

"That's great then Abs. Have a good time with your friend. But be careful."

She sparkled at her favorite guy's expression and saluted him.

"Yes sir, Gibbs sir."

"Abby..."

"I'll be careful, Gibbs. I promise. It's clubbing in Baltimore, everything will be fine. I mean seriously, there is no possible way I could get in any trouble!"

She laughed and finished gathering the rest of her things while Gibbs grabbed his papers.

Gibbs waited quietly at the door and reached an arm out pulling Abby close as the two walked out to the parking lot.  
He watched and waited while she got into her hearse and pulled out of the lot before he got into his own precious Charger. Seeing her safe on her way he turned towards his own home.

He pulled into his drive way and walked into his empty unlocked home, tossing the files onto his thread-bare couch. He didn't even want to look at them.

He knew what was in them, the names the backgrounds the potential. And none of them were right. At the moment he was down to only one other agent on his team and he was talking about turning in his resignation. Morrow refused to let him work alone, and Gibbs knew that he could only put him off so long. Eventually he was going to have to look at those files again. See them for more than names look at what they could be for his team…

But he didn't have to do it right now.

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Detective Anthony DiNozzo stood facing his Captain with his partner at his side. He could feel the hostility coming off of his partner in waves, he was just grateful it wasn't being directed towards him.

Detective Daniel Alexander stared at Captain Bergan with the most dangerous glare he could muster. He couldn't remember disliking someone more than the pompous man standing in front of them. He was about to make one the biggest mistakes of his life and the entire department was going to suffer for it.

This was wrong.

So so wrong.

"Sir with all due respect, this is a monumental mistake. Detective DiNozzo-"

"Detective DiNozzo disobeyed a direct order. He put the entire undercover operation at risk and nearly brought the entire thing down on our heads. Six months of undercover work, working with other agencies, the testimonies, all of that could have been completely undone. And this has only been the latest in a long list of screw ups and mistakes! This should have been done months ago."

Daniel clenched his fists and tried not picture himself punching them man in his red bulbous nose.

"Detective DiNozzo did what the situation called for. The plan fell through and back up was too far behind. Yes something bad could have happened, but nothing did. Everything came out okay and that is what matters. It was either break cover or people were going to die. Do you understand that Captain Bergan? Does that still matter to you? And maybe none of this would have happened if you would have followed your _own_ protocol and taken your head out of your-"

"Hey!" Detective DiNozzo had had about enough of this. Detective Alexander was getting a little hot under the collar and there was no way he was letting him get in trouble for his screw up. He ignored the warning look he was getting from his partner and faced the captain.  
"Look, I did what I had to and it broke procedure and I understand there are consequences for that. Can we just get to the point of all this?"

Captain Bergan nodded and smiled.

"Yes lets. Detective DiNozzo, give me your badge. You're fired."

Tony blinked at the man in shock before he masked his face back into nonchalance. He swallowed once and nodded, slipping his badge off the chain from around his neck.

"Tony..."

Daniel whispered, but stopped at Tony's sharp shake of his head. Message clear- do not make this worse.

Bergan's smile widened, revealing yellowed teeth.

"And your weapon."

Tony slid it out of the holster, took out the clip and set it firmly on his former captain's desk, and gently, almost reverently, he put the badge on top.

With a smirk and sarcasm dripping from every word, Bergan spoke again.

"Thank you for your service."

Tony dipped his head and turned, walking for the door.

Daniel looked between the two of them, desperate and worried. Finally he yelled-

"DiNozzo!"

He paused at the entryway and tapped his finger on the wood.

"Daniel?"

Bergan took a step towards the men before Daniel could get the words out.

"DiNozzo!"

Tony turned to him, his smile fading to a straight line of thinly hidden disgust.

"Something else Bergen?"

"Get the hell out of my office"

Tony bit out a harsh smile and bowed.

"Gladly."


	2. Chapter 2

**Alright Everyone I am a sleep deprived idiot who was trying to make a simple change and ended up hitting the wrong button and deleted every chapter except the first of this story. Nothing new, just me trying to fix something! Sorry! **

"SCUITO!"

Abby ducked at the sound of her last name being screamed across the club. No one called her by her last name. No one except her biggest boss, the director of NCIS and she was pretty sure Director Morrow wasn't in Riddle Me This Nightclub. Well...she certainly hoped not.

She glanced around herself before her eyes settled on the bleach blond across the bar. There was no way that was...that was Lottie? What the hell happened? Who was this pink lollipop and where was Abby's best friend?

Abby didn't have much time to react as two stick thin arms wrapped around her neck in a crushing hug.

"Awe Maw Gawsh its Abbay Scuito! I haive mishhed you sho mush girrrrl!"

Abby tried to smile as her so obviously smashed friend but couldn't find the right muscles to work yet. Lottie was...different. Same height, same weight, same features, but something was wrong. Plus there was the obviously disgusting fact that she was wearing a completely matching pink outfit. Even her shoes. Her shoes were pink.

Abby could feel a little bit of her soul shrivel up and die at the sight of the sequined pink shoes.

Lottie was most definitely not Lottie anymore.

Twisting deftly, Abby maneuvered her way out of Lottie's drunken grip to get a better look at her old friend. Just because she was wearing pink and was more than a little drunk, didn't mean she had suddenly become less of a friend than she used to be. Right?

"Hi Lottie!"

Lottie's sloppy grin got bigger. She slung her arm around Abby's shoulders and leaned into her, whispering loudly into her ear.

"Awe maw gawsh Abbay! Let's partay!"

Abby laughed despite the uneasy feeling in her stomach and eased her way onto the dance floor, her tipsy college friend barely hanging on her arm.

NCISncisNCISncis

Gibbs stood in his basement, sanding a rib of his almost boat. It was his fourth now. Four boats, four wives, three divorces. He would rather not think about what that means. Or what means that he never actually removed the last three boats from the basement. He had just broke them apart and started over. Boy a shrink would have a hell of a time with that one.

Gibbs shook off that thought and refocused on the knot he was sanding down. This one he was going to finish. He was sure of it. If only the twisting in his gut would go away. Something was wrong. Or something was going to be. He growled in frustration and tossed his sand paper on the work bench. It skidded across the desk knocking into papers and causing things to crash onto the floor. Gibbs sighed and looked at the mess spread out across his basement. Those stupid files were now carpeting his floor.

He snorted.

Better use for them as a saw dust catcher than anything else.

Morrow was going to be furious.

Gibbs chuckled to himself and poured a glass of bourbon.

At the moment that was not his problem.

He put the glass to his lips but pulled it away before he drank, his gut screaming at him.

He stalked around the basement floor, slamming the rusting jar on the work bench, fuming. Gibbs rubbed his forehead, trying to calm his nerves, looking for the source of his stress. Everything he was leading back to the same conclusion.

Abby.

He moved up the basement stairs and went searching for his phone. Abby always kept her cell with her when she went out and she knew to call him if anything went wrong. He knew he had taught Abby well and she could handle herself well, but he wanted his phone with him.

Just in case.

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Tony squirmed in his bar stool and stared at the unopened beer. He just couldn't bring himself to drink it. He had turned down Daniel's invitation to dinner with the family, not feeling up to company, but now he didn't feel right drinking his night away. He sighed and pushed away the alcohol, dropping a twenty on the bar.

"Take it easy Marshal."

The middle aged bar tender looked up from the glass he cleaning to see the younger man's retreating figure. His eyes darted to the twenty on the table and the unopened drink.

"Hey Tony! Wait man, this is way too much!"

Tony didn't look back as he pushed open the door.

"Keep it Marshal, consider it my cover for next time."

With that Tony swept out into the street.

Marshal looked at the door swinging closed and shook his head. Tony always paid him over and above. Always had some excuse. Every time. Marshal never said anything about it but he suspected that Tony knew about his son and was doing his small piece to help. He had never told his customers that his son was sick, never told his friends about the hospital bills mounting, threatening to drown his family, but somehow, this man who showed up like clockwork every week knew. And paid extra. Marshal didn't have to know him well to know he was a good man. He never got overly drunk, never caused problems, never had trouble paying, even helped settle fights when they came up. He was friendly with the other customers, provided a listening ear to those trying to drown their sorrows in a bottle, and always had he time to stop ask if Marshal was doing okay, the unspoken question in his eyes. Yeah, he was a good man. Marshal tipped the glass he was cleaning towards the closed door.

"Good on you Tony."

NCISncisNCISncis

Abby stormed out of the nightclub.

Stormed.

She turned the word over in her mind. She liked that one. It fit. Thunder and lightening. Rain and hail. Really ticked off nature. Yeah that fit well cause boy was she ticked!

She began checking off the reasons for her fury as she marched down the street, too distracted to search for a cab.

Three minutes on the dance floor Lottie ditches her for some guy in a sequin shirt. An ugly sequin shirt. It matched her shoes.

A random guy comes hitting on her in a foreign language and doesn't take no for an answer until Abby knees him in the groin. That told him no.

Abby is 'escorted' from the nightclub for causing a 'scene'.

She huffed and scuffed her feet along the edge of the sidewalk. This weekend off was not going like she planned. She should have stayed in D.C. Then she could partied all night in her usual night clubs, bowled with sister Rosita and then dragged Gibbs out of his basement and talked him into taking her into taking her to dinner.

Oh Gibbs.

She smiled as she thought of the crusty marine. Her boss would have approved of her methods. Desperate times.

Abby found herself chuckling as she thought of Mr. I'm Smooth Because I Can Hit on You in Spanish's face when her knee met something it wasn't suppose to. He certainly learned his lesson.

Abby found her steps getting lighter as she walked down the sidewalk and she started thinking about how to salvage her weekend. She could go back to her hotel, gather her things and go back to D.C., catch the end of the night life and spend the rest of two days with her friends. There was no way she was staying here with Lottie, forget that.

Yeah, going home sounded good.

Now she just needed to get back to the hotel.

Abby looked around herself.

Where was the hotel again?

Better question.

Where was she?


	3. Chapter 3

Oh crap oh crap oh crap.

"Gibbs is going to kill me."

Abby looked around herself, searching for a familiar landmark, a helpful street sign, a big flashing light saying 'go this way'.

Nothing.

She was lost in Baltimore.

She was lost in downtown Baltimore.

She was lost in downtown Baltimore at one in the morning.

Forget kill her. Gibbs was going to lock her in his basement and handcuff her to his boat, never letting her out of his sight again.

A stray cat knocked over a trash can and the resounding thud made Abby jump. She wrapped her arms around herself and shuddered.

"It's fine, you're fine, everything's fine. Just call Gibbs, he'll know what to do."

She pulled out her cell phone and pressed his speed dial.

NO SERVICE.

Oh crap oh crap OH CRAP.

"Okay, that's okay, you know what, something around here has to be open, I'll just find a bar and get directions, no problem. Everything is going to be alright. There is absolutely no reason to panic."

Despite her personal reassurances that freaking out was not the right answer a voice from behind her sent her right back into a spiral of dizzying panic. Especially since the voice was Mr. Cheesy Foreign Accent Man.

And he had friends.

"Rallenta, piccola, dove vai?"

Abby sped up her walking, trying to ignore the voices calling out to her, even as they become ever closer.

"Aspetta, tesoro, non vuoi divertirti un po'?"

A hand on Abby's shoulder whipped her around and she gasped as she was shoved into the hard cement of a dark building.

The man laughed at her expression and said something else she couldn't quite catch, trying to remember what was left of her high school spanish.

The man moved closer to her and whispered something in her ear. Abby shivered and tried to build up a scream but the man pushed a meaty hand over her mouth before she got the chance, obviously goaded on by the catcalls of his friends.

A small voice in the back of her head acknowledged that what that men were saying wasn't spanish, but that didn't really seem like the biggest problem at the moment.

She jerked her knee up again to make the man step back but was surprised when he caught her leg. Instead of forcing it back down like she expected he began rubbing her knee.

Abby let a small whimper of fear and then cursed herself for it.

She could almost hear Gibbs voice in the back of her head, telling her to be careful, she was outnumbered, and not to do anything that would get her killed. Her mace wouldn't do anything but make them angry now. She couldn't spray all five of them at once.

The man suddenly shoved her leg down pushed her until she was completely against the wall, coming against her until he was flush to her.

He put his hand in his hair and said something loudly in the foreign language, prompting laughter from all of his friends.

Abby closed her eyes as tight as they could go as the five voices blended together, held together by the sickening drunken laughter weaving its way in-between.

"Hey!"

Abby's eyes reopened at the sound of a new voice. There was a tall dark shadow coming up quick behind the group of men. They turned around, the one still keeping Abby against wall, not willing to let his prize get away. The lead man shouted something Abby couldn't understand at the new comer and she was surprised when the man was unfazed and responded in kind.

Two of the men took a step towards the new guy, seeing he was not going to leave.

Abby strained to see past the man holding her back, trying to see the guy coming to her rescue. She couldn't see his face, but she could see how he braced himself, ready for a fight.

She looked around, seeing if there was anyone around that a scream would draw.

No one.

Just five angry men and the a good Samaritan about to get the crap beat out of him.

This was so bad.

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All Tony wanted to do was go home. Honestly.

In one day he had been shot at, screamed at, threatened, and fired.

To be truthful it wasn't the worst day he had ever had, it wasn't even in the top ten, but it still wasn't exactly pleasent. All he wanted was some peace and quiet.

So that's what he went looking for.

After leaving Marshal's he headed home walking the three miles to try and clear his head. He was only a block away from his apartment complex when he heard the sounds of a struggle and strains of Italian.

His ears prickled at the sound of such a familiar sound. Without thought he moved towards the noise, wanting to find what was going on.

What he saw made his blood go cold.

A woman who looked to be in her mid-twenties, dressed in all black was shoved against a wall, just out of sight of a streetlight, with an angry looking man pushing himself against her. He had one hand in her hair and the other hand over her mouth, holding back the scream she was trying so hard to get out.

The man laughed and shouted to his friends in Italian.

"Looks like we've got a fighter here!"

"Hey!"

The yell escaped Tony's lips before he even thought about it. Four of the five men turned around immediately, while the fifth took his time, leaning his back against the poor girl, keeping her trapped against the wall.

"This doesn't concern you, get lost."

Tony narrowed his eyes and took a step forward.

"I don't think so. Why don't you let the girl go and pick on someone your own size?"

Boy that sounded cliché

The two men in front smirked and started towards him. Five against one. This was really going to hurt. Maybe if he could keep these idiots distracted for long enough the girl could get away... That would count as a victory.

Getting his butt whupped? Well that would just be the perfect way to end this day.

"Are you offering?"

Four of the men arranged themselves in a half circle around Tony. He glanced at the girl, still caught against the wall. Her eyes were wide with fear and concern. At this point he wasn't sure who she was more scared for though.

"Let's see what you got."

Whatever new guy said made them made mad.

And wherever new guy came from, they sure knew how to make them.

He had two of the men on the ground before one of their hits even touched their mark. Then Abby couldn't tell who was winning, new guy was taking a lot of hits, but was still holding his own. Unfortunately the two he had taken down didn't stay down for long. New guy had his hands full, but amazingly, despite the beating he was getting, the men he was facing were moving slower and slower. And better yet, Mr. Cheesy turned Scary was becoming more and more distracted by the fight. Her eyes narrowed as he took half a step away from her. She just needed a little more room…

There!

He took another step towards the fray and she shot away from the wall, pushing him away from her. She made it three feet down the alley before grabbing a lid from a near-by trashcan and slamming it down on Mr. Cheesy's head hard enough to made his teeth knock together.

He hit the ground with a thud.

The noise and Abby's cry of victory was enough for the new guy to raise his head from the mess he had found himself in.

Their eyes met, and Abby saw relief shining in the vibrant green at the sight of her free.

The relief was replaced with pain when one of the men caught him in the abdomen. The soft cry of pain was deafened by the sound of something cracking.

Abby winced and moved forward, her grip still tight on the trash can lid.

She smashed on another one's head while the new guy swung his fist out and took one guy down with a single hit to the jaw.

Two down two to go.

Abby moved closer to the new guy, her eyes scanning in for injury. He didn't look good. Not at all. Judging by the blood seeping from a cut above his eyebrow and the way his arm was curling around his torso, Abby didn't think he was going to be lasting much longer.

He glanced down at her and murmured quietly enough so the men wouldn't hear. Abby leaned closer, straining to hear.

"Sei ferita? Devi andare in un posto più sicuro."

Abby shook her head and placed her feet, gripping her trash can tighter.

"I don't understand, I'm sorry."

She was getting really sick of foreign languages.

Tony looked at her in confusion.

What part didn't she understand?

You spoke to her in Italian, genius. Try again.

Tony opened his mouth to ask again if she was hurt and to warn her to get away but she stopped him.

"Look, we'll talk in minute okay, let's take these guys on first, okay?"

Well, she certainly had spirit.

Tony looked down at the girl standing next to him, holding a battered trash can lid like a weapon. And considering the damage she had inflicted with it, it made a pretty effective weapon he had to give her that.

He turned his attention back to the men in front of them. The two on the ground were not getting back up and the one that had held the girl was going to be out for quite a while and the two in front of them were looking less and less confident by the second.

Which is good because I'm not sure how much longer I'm going to be able to keep standing.

Tony forced himself to focus. The two men didn't look at the great themselves. He knew he had gotten some pretty good hits in there, he just hoped they were good enough to convince the guys that this fight wasn't worth it anymore.

The two men glanced at each other and simultaneously turned and ran down the alley way, leaving Tony and the girl watching their flight with suspicious eyes.

Tony watched the three men on the ground for a second before realizing there was someone talking. He looked around himself for the source of the noise and found the young woman still next to him and talking a mile a minute.

He blinked at her, giving himself a moment to make the switch from Italian to English in his head.

She had just asked him a question.

"Tony. My name is Tony."

Abby smiled and nodded. Tony, nice name.

"Nice to meet you Tony, my name is Abby. I think you're hurt pretty bad, I'm going to get you some help okay? I'm going to call-"

NO SERVICE

Abby let out a curse that was decidedly not lady-like.

Tony reached out an arm and touched Abby's shoulder, both to draw her attention and maybe a little bit to steady himself, even if he didn't want to admit that.

"No, don't call anyone. My apartment is right there. I just need to get there, I'm fine."

Abby looked at him with disbelieving eyes.

"I don't think so Mister. Fine is the one thing you are not."

Tony decided to change tactics.

He smiled at her.

Abby stared at him for a second.

Wow.

This one sure could smile.

But she was not going to be distracted.

"At least let me help you to your apartment."

Tony looked at the girl standing next to him and then at the walk that was waiting him. It was looking longer and longer the more time he spent looking at it.

Abby could see him deliberating whether or not to accept her help, so she decided to change her attack plan. She dug inside herself and pulled out every bit of Gibbsness she had.

She harshly cleared her throat.

Tony tore his eyes away from the endless walk between him and his apartment and looked back at Abby. She crossed her arms across her chest and raised her eyebrows.

"Let me rephrase this. What is your apartment number and where are your keys?"

**English Italian translations. Thank you to McMoni for the right translations!**

**1)Slow down baby, where are you going? - Rallenta, piccola, dove vai?**  
**2)Hold on Honey, Don't you want to have some fun? - Aspetta, tesoro, non vuoi divertirti un po'?**  
**3)Are You Hurt? You need to get somewhere safe. - Sei ferita? Devi andare in un posto più sicuro.**


	4. Chapter 4

Tony had thought living on the top floor of the apartment was a stupid idea when he first moved in. Sure he didn't have a lot of stuff, but lugging what boxes he did have up all those bloody stairs made him reconsider his apartment choice, even if it was the only one he could afford. Especially since there was no elevator.

Days like today an elevator would be nice.

Days where there was blood dripping in his eye and everything was spinning so that the world looked like it was tipped on its side. Every breath he took sent shooting pains through his torso, he had broken a rib once before and it had felt similar to this. His head was pounding and his eyes refused to focus. This really sucked.

Tony paused on the stairs to lean on the wall, they had half a staircase to go, and Abby was all but bouncing with the desire to get him somewhere where she could survey the damage inflicted upon him.

Tony was not looking forward to that.

He really didn't want her to know how bad he was hurt. She was okay, that much was easy to tell and he would feel a lot better if she would get somewhere safe and leave him to a night of Tylenol and hopefully sleep. But if she caught a glance at how bad things were underneath his smile and fast words there was no way he was getting away from her.

He had to convince her he was fine, but first he had to get himself off the wall.

Abby looked over at the man she had found herself taking care of. He looked like he was hanging on to the wall for dear life, his eyes closed tight, lines of pain framing them. His face was pale, and there was still blood dripping down his from the cut above his eyebrow. She felt her stomach clench just looking at him. He really needed a doctor.

"Tony? We're almost there, are you okay?"

Tony forced his eyes back open and blinked at her a couple time, trying to keep his thoughts in some reasonable order.

"Convince her you're fine."

He smiled brightly at her, ignoring the nausea forcing its way to his throat.

"Yeah, thanks Abby. I'm fantastic, we're just about to my apartment."

She nodded worriedly, not convinced. Together the two made their way up the last few steps and started down the hall. The crooked numbers on his apartment door had never looked as welcoming as they did then.

"Here we are, this is me."

Abby pulled Tony's keys out of her pocket having refused to move from the alley until he had handed them over earlier. She pushed opened the door and gently pulled her new friend inside. He gasped in pain as her arm bumped his throbbing ribs. Abby cried out when she realized she was hurting him and pulled her arms away. Tony managed to smile at her and patted her arm with a shaky hand.

"I'm okay Abby, just tired. Are you alright?"

She gasped a halting laugh as tears slipped down her face. He was hurt and asking about her.

"I'm okay Tony. Thanks to you. I'm just fine."

Tony grinned and carefully made his way to the couch trying to keep his feet on the ground and the rest of him standing up. Abby quickly closed the door behind them, sliding the two dead bolts and the chain lock, taking a moment to marvel at the number of locks on her rescuers door. This neighborhood wasn't that bad. Was it?

She turned back to Tony and began to ask him what she could do to help but stopped the question in her throat when she saw he had passed out a foot away from the couch.

"Tony!"

She rushed forward and carefully rolled him onto his back.

"Tony? Tony please wake up!"

He didn't move.

Abby looked around herself and got to her feet. Hurrying down the hallway she found what she guessed to be Tony's bedroom and grabbed a pillow and blanket off the surprisingly neatly made bed. Rushing back to Tony she placed the pillow under his head and covered him with the blanket.

"Okay, you're going to be okay. Don't worry honey, I'm going to get you help. I'm going to get you the very best kind of help there is."

Abby pulled out her phone and was rewarded to see that there were full bars.

"Of course. Now you want to cooperate."

She pressed the waiting speed dial.

"Please pick up, please pick up, please pick up."

The gruff voice coming over the line almost dissolved her back to tears.

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Gibbs was sitting on his couch reading.

Sometimes he was unsure why he had a couch. He never used it. Actually other than the kitchen, he never used much of anything that wasn't his basement. He had lost track of how many times he had fallen asleep on the hard cement floor underneath his boat, it had gotten to the point where having a bedroom was pointless.

If it wasn't for the fact his gut was still churning like the time Abby's super-secret-if-I-told-you-I'd-have-to-kill-you chili gave him food poisoning, he's still be in the basement trying to sand and drink away his precious free time. He just couldn't shake this feeling.

If only he could figure out what was going on…

Ring ring ring

Gibbs hand moved on its own will, snatching the phone off the handmade coffee table.

"Gibbs." He barked out in his customary manner.

"Gibbs, Gibbs, Gibbs! I need your help!"

"Abby? Are you alright?" Hearing Abby's voice he sat up straighter.

"No! Well yes I'm okay, kind of. Well I'm fine I suppose, I'm not the one who's in trouble anymore, but Tony is, he's really hurt! He's just not admitting it but now he's passed out so he can't even hide it any more. I'm okay, just a little jumpy but that's not new, it could be so much worse. It would be so much worse if it wasn't for Tony. He needs help Gibbs and he won't go to a hospital. I need you and Ducky to get down here now!"

"Wait, Abby, what? Who's Tony? What happened to Lottie? Where are you?"

Gibbs stood, trying to sort Abby's rushed and confusing explanation.

"Gibbs! We don't have time for this! Tony doesn't have time for this, he's really hurt! I'll tell you the whole story when you get down here! Now get Ducky and hurry up!"

She rattled off an address and hung up the phone before Gibbs could ask another question.

He stared at the phone for a moment in shock.

Abby never ordered to do anything.

Not like that.

She was big on saying please and teaching him all about manners and patience. That was one of the delightful quirks of Abby. She never let his gruff attitude effect her, she always kept her cheerfulness, but right now there was no niceness, only a demand. A desperate demand. She was in trouble. And so was Tony. Whoever Tony was.

Gibbs held down one of the few speed dials programed in his hated phone, waiting for three rings before a chipper Scottish accent answered the phone. Well, chipper for one thirty in the morning. Hearing the voice he grabbed his jacket and car keys, pulling the door shut behind him.

"Hello?"

"Duck it's me. Abby's in Baltimore and needs our help. I'll be by your place in twenty minutes. Is there someone who can take care of your mom?"

NCISncisNCISncis

The older man with shaggy brown hair studied his driving companion with curious eyes as the two drove down the dark highway at breakneck speeds. He had attempted to draw the other man in conversation for quite a while now but this friend had been distracted trying to call back Abby. Hitting redial once again, Gibbs was greeted by her voicemail for what felt like the one hundredth time. Cursing in frustration he threw the cell phone towards Ducky's feet, wanting it away from him, but close enough that if Abby happened to call back, someone could get to it.

Ducky could sense the frustration coming off his colleague but couldn't stop his desire for knowledge from forcing out the question.

"So what did our dear Abigail get herself into this time?"

Gibbs swerved passed a semi truck, narrowly keeping his precious charger from clipping an oncoming SUV.

"Don't know Duck, but she was really upset and she won't answer her phone. Apparently someone named Tony is in some kind of trouble and she is wrapped up in it."

"Hmmm…. Didn't she come down to Baltimore to meet an old college friend? A girl named Lottie? I don't recall her mentioning an Anthony. Do you know an Anthony?"

"Nope."

Ducky sighed and rubbed his chin, ignoring Gibbs' obvious want of silence he began reminiscing.

"You know this reminds me of a time when an old friend of mine went out clubbing and got herself embroiled in a full fledged brawl involving three policemen, a bar tender, fifteen patrons of the bar and a goat. She met her third husband there, but she didn't realize until the fourth year of their second go at marraige. She was a peculiar sort. I always had a fond spot for her though, we did have a brief tryst during a trip we took to Africa learning Aids back in the late 70's. She was quite the-"

"Duck! We're here. Keep an eye out for the apartment building, Abby said it was pretty run down."

Gibbs had never been so happy to see the downtown of any city in his entire life. He did not want to know where that story was leading to. Seeing the building Abby had quickly described, Gibbs pulled his car into one of the few open parking spaces and the two men jumped from the vehicle. Together the two quickly made their way to the front of the building and found the front door opened without problem.

The two exchanged glances as they looked around the dingy abandoned lobby. The Ritz this place was not.

"What room and floor Jethro?" Ducky said, wondering what kind of person Abby had found herself with this time. She had a habit of taking on strays and it looked like tonight that habit had gotten her into some trouble.

"Abby said 407."

Nodding the men headed to the stairs while Gibbs tried Abby one more time wondering what on earth they were all about to get themselves into.


	5. Chapter 5

"Come on Tony, please wake up. Please. Gibbs will be here soon and he's going to help us."

Abby gently shook Tony's shoulder, trying to get a reaction from her friend.

Nothing.

She had been at this for nearly an hour and they only response she had managed to get from the man on the floor was a muffled groan.

"Tony please!"

A knock loud enough to make the foundation of the building quiver shook the door.

"Abby? Are you in there?"

Abby jumped to her feet and rushed to the door, fumbling with the many locks.

"Gibbs! Hold on!"

Sliding the last lock open, she flung the door wide and launched herself at the silver haired man.

"Gibbs Gibbs Gibbs! You're here! Finally, I was so scared!"

Gibbs put his hand on her shoulder and squeezed gently.

"Abby calm down, you need to tell me what is going on."

Abby nodded enthusiastically.

"I will Gibbs, but first Tony needs help."

Abby moved out of the way and grabbed Ducky's arm, pulling him into the apartment.

"Help him Ducky, he refused to go to the hospital and he needs help!"

Ducky patted her arm and reassured her quietly.

"Of course my dear Abigail. Let's see what we have here."

He lowered himself carefully to the ground and began to gently observe his new patient.

Tony couldn't get his eyes open.

And he was so very confused.

He was at Marshal's wasn't he?

No that wasn't right.

He had left Marshal's, it had been a really long, bad day, he had wanted to go home.

So he was home?

Yes.

But something was missing inbetween Marshal's and home.

Yelling. There was yelling involved.

Someone was yelling in Italian.

Well that explained why everything hurt. He always seemed to get the brunt of an attack when Italian was screamed like that. But...what had happened.

"You were in downtown Baltimore alone?"

"But Gibbs it wasn't my fault!"

The familiar voice pierced the confusion.

Abby!

His eyes shot open, taking in everything in one panicked glance.

Abby standing at the door, arguing desperately with an angry looking grey haried man.

Was she in more trouble?

Tony's eyes jerked over to the shadow looming over him.

An older man with specticles and messy brown hair was leaning over him, studying him in both a curious and clinical manner.

A stranger.

In his apartment.

Leaning over him.

Touching him.

Tony reacted on instinct alone.

Throwing out an elbow he hit the older man in the shoulder, knocking him back, before adrenaline forced him to his feet. Moving faster than he should he put himself between Abby and the angy looking man, flinging one arm out to keep her behind him and reaching for a sugar tin with the other. In a manuever none of them were expecting he pulled a gun from the sugar tin and aimed it at the new man's chest.

Everyone froze.

"I don't know what is going on, but someone had better explain it."

The new man's stare was steady and unwavering, but something flashed in his eyes too quick for Tony to decipher. He slowly put his hands up and kept eye contact with Tony.

"It's alright, everything it okay, we're here with Abby, we're here to help."

Tony was not having a good time. The energy rush was fading, the exhastion hitting him hard and fast, and all the aches and pains were loudly protesting the treatment he was putting himself through, but he could still feel a gentle touch on his arm, and the scared voice getting through the haze.

"Tony, we don't understand, you aren't speaking English. Put the gun down, these are my friends, they are here to help you."

Tony looked at her and back to the man in front of him.

"Siete l'amico di Abby?"

Gibbs didn't blink.

"I don't know what you said kid, but I'm Abby's boss and friend. None of us are going to hurt you or her, now put that down."

Tony slowly nodded, he was willing to take their word for it because at this point he didn't have much of a choice. He carefully placed the gun back on his kitchen counter and gently wrapped his arm around his ribs.

Everything hurt so bad he could barely think.

The edges of his vision were going fuzzy, he could feel Abby moving behind him and jerked back in surprise when she suddenly filled his sight.

"Tony, Gibbs is my friend and so is Ducky, he's a doctor and he is going to help you. Don't be scared."

Tony nodded, not completely sure what she was saying, the blood rushing in his ears was making it hard to hear.

He did have a very important question to ask her now though, he focused, trying to put all of his attention into wording his thoughts in a language he could actually understand.

Abby could see Tony was about to fall down again and was moving to help him when he locked her in a serious gaze.

"Abby..."

"Yes Tony?"

"Did you say your doctor was a duck?"

With that Tony's eyes rolled back in his head and his knees buckled. Gibbs had been happy to let Abby defuse the situation once the gun had disappeared but seeing the young man making a quick descent to the ground prompted him into action.

Abby jumped out of the way just in time for Gibbs to catch the hurting man.

"Duck, you okay?"

Popping up next to his friends shoulder Ducky answered with his usual cheer.

"Oh yes, Jethro, I am thoroughly alright. I think we merely startled the young man. Quite an undersandable reaction to finding strangers in his home, espicially after such a tramautic experience. Abigail, perhaps you could elaborate on the circumstances to our new friend's state while I examine him? Jethro could you move him to the couch please?"

Gibbs nodded and gently laid the brunette on the couch for the doctor to take care of. Ducky opened his bag and began pulling out his utensils to look at the man. Turning his gaze to Abby he gave out a brief order.

"Explain."

Abby sighed and flopped on the beat up recliner next to the couch.

"Okay so I'm at the club with Lottie when she ditches me and this creepy guy comes out of no where and starts hitting on me. He really won't take no for an answer so I knee him and accidently cause a fight in the middle of the dance floor. The kicked me out and I got turned around after I left. Then creepy guy shows up with a bunch of friends and corners me in an alley. He tried to...to…"

Abby took a shuddering breath, squeezing her eyes shut. Gibbs and Ducky exchanged glances over Tony's prone figure.

Gibbs moved from around the couch and sat on the arm of the chair. Gently he put his arm around Abby's shoulders and whispered quietly.

"You're okay Abby. You're alright."

She nodded and took a deep breath, followed by another.

"He was about to… when all of a sudden this new guy shows up and starts yelling at them. I couldn't understand a word of what was happening, but the guys turned their attention off of me and on to him. On to Tony. Five of the Gibbs. There were five of them. He could have kept walking, but he came to save me. He fought five guys and won. But he's really hurt. Really really hurt and it is all my fault. He's a complete stranger, just some random guy who was walking. He heard me in trouble and came to help me and now he's..."

She looked up at Gibbs with tears in her eyes and buried her head in his shoulder. He wrapped her in his arms and pulled her close, rubbing her back and watching the bruised man on the couch with new respect. Five men on one. Took guts to take on that many people on your own, especially when you had nothing to gain.

Ducky made tutting noises as he ran his hands gently over the man's ribcage, putting small amounts of pressure on the right side.

A small groan came from Tony as Ducky put more pressure on a spot. Nodding to himself Ducky pushed himself up and rubbed his hands on his pants.

Abby poked her head up off of Gibbs' shoulder.

"Ducky? Is he going to be alright?"

Gibbs and Ducky exchanged a long look before Ducky began to speak.

"Well Abigail from what I can tell, your new friend here is sufferring from some deep muscle bruising all along his torso, there is also evidence of two cracked ribs. It looks like he has two broken fingers on his left hand and sprained right wrist. His shoulder his dislocated, we will need to pop that in place very quickly. There is also signs of a mild concussion, that may also help explain some of the confusion he showed earlier. Other than that, there only appears to be cuts and bruises. He should recover with no problem. "

Abby stared at him opened mouthed.

"Re-re-recover with no problem? Cracked ribs! Dislocated shoulder? A CONCUSSION! Gibbs! I broke Tony!"

Abby lost her control completely and burst into tears, dropping herself into Gibbs' arms.

"Abby. He's going to be okay. This isn't your fault alright? We're going to find the guys who did this, but for now you need to get off of me so I can help Ducky with Tony. Everything is going to be alright."

Abby sniffled and nodded curling up in the chair.

Together Gibbs and Ducky braced themselves to put Tony's shoulder back into place.

"Ready?"

Gibbs nodded.

"On three. One-Two-Three."

Tony came back to consciousness with a shout as his shoulder was put back into place.

Taking a moment for his eyes to focus, he saw the two men standing in front of him and the young woman in black curled up in his chair crying.

"Anthony, our young hero, you've decided to join us."

Tony's eyebrows drew together in confusion. Who was this guy and how did he know his name?

"TONY!"

The high pitch scream both explained his question and made the marching band in his head pick up tempo.

Abby. The girl from alley. This must be her mysterious help she was so adamant about.

"Abby. Are you okay?"

She jumped at him, giving him an exuberant but gentle hug.

"I'm just fine Tony, not a scratch on me. You on the other hand are a mess. Tell him Ducky."

Tony looked from Abby to the man standing next to her.

"Um...Ducky?"

"Doctor Mallard my dear boy, but my friends call me Ducky. And you are now free to count yourself among their numbers. Now about your injuries. You have what I believe to be a mild concussion, a couple cracked ribs, a sprained wrist, and a lot of deep muscle bruising. Not to mention the dislocated shoulder that my associate and I just put back into place. I am afraid that is what aroused you from your unconsious state. I would feel a lot better if I could take you to a hospital to have you checked out."

Tony shook his head and then winced. Bad idea with the concussion.

"No, no hospital...Ducky. Thank you though for all your help. I really appreciate it."

"Of course Anthony, anyone is who is a friend of our dear Abigail's is a friend of ours, especially one who saved our girl from such trouble."

Tony shrugged then bit his lip. Shoulder. Right. Could he do anything without it hurting?

"It was no big deal. I only did what anyone else would do. I'm just glad Abby's alright."

Ducky smiled and patted Tony's arm.

"It may have been what "anyone else would do" but no one else did it Tony, you did."

Tony blushed and mumbled something they couldn't quite catch.

Abby smiled about to interject in the converstation when a yawn inturupted her thought.

Ducky turned his attnetion to her.

"Abigail! My dear, you have been through quite an upsetting experience tonight and you need your rest. We should get you back to your hotel!"

Abby grimiced.

"Yeah about that Ducky, I lost my purse in all the confusion, and with that went my room key and I still don't know where my hotel it."

Tony began to push himself off the couch.

"You don't need to go back to a hotel, you all can stay here. I have a guest room. One of you can take that, one of you can have my room, someone can take the couch."

Ducky tutted.

"And where would you sleep?"

Tony grinned and gestured to the recliner.

"Toss a couple pillows on there and I will be just fine."

"I don't think so young man-"

Tony put a hand out.

"Ducky, I'm not going to a hospital, but I bet you would feel better knowing that I have a doctor in the apartment all night since I have a concussion. It would be so much easier if you just stay here so we all have peace of mind. It's not the first time I've slept on that chair and it won't be the last. I'm not making a lady sleep on my couch and I'm not making an elder do it, so you and quiet guy back there can battle it out for other bed, but I am very happy with my chair."

Ducky looked like he was about to argue but a sharp nod from Gibbs cut him off. He sighed and shook his head, insisting on helping Tony off the couch when he started to pull himself to his feet.

"Thanks Ducky."

"Of course my dear boy."

Accepting a hug from Abby, Tony began down the hall, offering to show Abby where everything was and find what he himself needed for the night.

Gibbs watched the two go down the hall with careful eyes.

Ducky walked up to his friend and stood quietly, waiting until the two disappeared into one of the rooms.

"Jethro?"

"What do you think of him Duck?"

Ducky looked towards the hall with renewed interest, thinking about all he had learned in a such a short amount of time.

"He sees a young woman in trouble and despite the odds stacked against him he steps in to help anyway. He is injured but refuses medical treatment, desiring to simply be left alone. Attention is drawn to his actions but he deflects it away insisting that anyone would have done the same. He does everything to downplay is own condition. But then when realizing that we have no place to stay he emphasizes it, claiming to desire medical attention to be close by just in case, therefore making sure that we have to remain giving us a place to stay the night. He is a very interesting yound man, even to the way he reacted when he first rose from unconsiousness. He could have incapcitated me, but he didn't, merely moved me out of his way so he could place himself between Abby and the perceived threat. There is a very defined protective streak there."

Gibbs nodded.

"Speaking of perceived threat, why the hell does he have a gun and why was it in a d*mn sugar tin? The way he reached for and reacted it's almost like-"

Gibbs stopped talking and blinked, his lips twitching into an almost smile.

"It's almost like what Jethro?"

Gibbs crossed his arms and leaned against the wall.

"Two options Duck, either he's the most morally ambigious criminal I've ever encountered, or he's a cop. The way he went after the gun...that's an officer going for his back-up."

Ducky nodded, pieced falling into place quickly.

"Well that certainally explains a lot."

Gibbs went back to silence and moved the living room.

"Take the bedroom Duck."

"But Jethro I-"

Gibbs glared at his friend.

Ducky paused.

"That look may make your agents quake in their books but it certainally doesn't work on me. I'll take the bed room, but only because I can tell you want the chance to get to know our young Anthony for yourself."

Gibbs' lips twitched into a smile again before he heard Tony coming back down the hall. His face straitened back as the young man wearily moved into living room. He had changed into a pair of Ohio State sweatpants and a black tee-shirt, clutching two pillows and several blankets. He dropped one pillow on the couch along with two of the blankets. The remainder he placed on the chair before turning to the guests he had found himself with.

"Abby is already settled in my room, the guest room is the first left down the hall and the bathroom is directly across. Help yourself to anything in the fridge, but don't get your hopes up, most everything in there has gone bad by now anyway, I'll order out for something in the morning."

Ducky patted him on the shoulder once again and thanked him.

"This is very kind of you my friend, thank you so much, we greatly appreciate your hospitality. I do however suggest an icepack for the bruising and some painkillers for the various aches and pain before you turn in."

Tony grinned at the doctor.

"Grabbed some Tylonol from the bathroom, I'm good to go. I don't have any icepacks though, don't even have a bag peas to use."

Ducky sighed and shook his head before saying his goodnights, promising to check on the man in the morning.

Tony and Gibbs prepared for bed in silence, Gibbs out of habit and Tony out of exhastion.

Flopping into the chair Tony wearily grabbed his pillow and curled up in his blankets. Gibbs watched as the younger man gave a sigh that spoke of so much more than just the incident with Abby. He looked back at the couch, and began to make his bed, thinking about the man sleeping only feet away. His gut churned, warning him there was something more here going on. There was something below the surface.

He turned back to Tony, and was surprised to see the man already asleep. His head was pressed into the pillow with one hand wrapped around it and the other holding on the blanket carefully draped over his ribs. Gibbs flipped the lights and settled on the couch.

The only sound was Tony's steady breaths and the never-ending traffic of Baltimore.

Until-

"Sleep Tight Agent Gibbs."

He quirked a smile.

"G'night Tony."

**Could they be bonding already? This story isn't anywhere near finished yet, it has some interesting places yet to go and I hope you all stay with me for the ride! Please remember to review!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey guys, the headache I had while writing this was pretty spectacular, so I have no idea what half of this is going to turn out to be, because me on any type of painkiller, even Tylenol gets interesting. So please bear with me. I hope you like this chapter, Tony and Gibbs have a chat and Gibbs learns about Tony in some different ways. Just to answer this question before it is asked, this is not and it will not turn into slash. It's just a friendship and eventually Father/son. Please review and tell me what you think!**

Gibbs rolled over for the hundredth time. When he saw that the clock on Tony's shiny DVD player showing the time to be four in the morning, he sighed and sat up. He had been flipping himself over on that stupid couch for the past hour and sleep refused to come, his mind and gut moving and twisting too much for him to gain any peace. Gibbs rubbed his hand across his forehead and began looking around the small apartment. Seeing that Tony was still deep asleep, he stood and began to inspect the living quarters of their host.

The front door opened into the living room which consisted of a worn leather couch, the beat up recliner and a bean bag chair patched with duck tape. A wide flat screen tv was mounted on the wall and DVD were stacked all over the living room. There were dozens scattered on every available surface with no rhyme or reason to their placement. Gibbs rolled his eyes at the mess and continued looking around. To the right of the living room was a kitchen, if it was even big enough to be called that. It was tiny and looked like it was seldom used. Take menu's were piled next to the stove according to type of restaurant. Chinese and Italian seemed to be the top choices judging by the dog eared quality of the papers. Gibbs smirked when he saw the markings on the menu illuminated by the streelights shining in the kitchen window. Written in blue permanent marker next to each entree was a comment on the food followed by a number of stars.

Looks like he didn't do a lot of cooking.

Gibbs turned back towards the refrigerator and was surprised to see it covered in paper and cartoon magnets. Leaning closer he saw that each paper was either a picture drawn with bright colors or a letter written with childish handwriting in waxy crayon.

Glancing over the counter seperating the kitchen from the rest of the apartment, Gibbs double checked to make sure Tony was still sound asleep. Noting that he was not disturbed yet, he reached for the jacket he tossed over a bar stool before laying on the couch. Finding the small penlight in his pocket he brought it back into the kitchen.

Wincing at the pressure on his bad knee, he kneeled at the fridge and shone the light at the papers.

He was shocked at what he saw.

Most were just pictures, stick figures holding hands, houses, rainbows, dogs, normal pictures a child would draw, each person named. In every picture with people there were always two men, a woman and a young girl, the girl standing close to one of the men, the one with Tony written above his head. Tessie was written above the girls head with the other two named simply as mommy and daddy, and everyone was always drawn smiling. The colors used in every picture were bright and happy, it was plain to see that whoever made these pictures for Tony was a very happy little girl.

Gibbs moved the flashlight towards one of the few peices of papers with more writing that pictures and began to read.

**Dear Tony,**

**I miss you, you haven't come over to visit in a long time. My daddy says that it is cause you are busy being a superhero and playing a big game of pretend. I told him that I was really good at pretend and I wanted to play too but he said that I couldn't, that this was a special game and only you could play. Well I think that I am special and that I would be good at playing. My daddy says you'll come to visit soon as soon as you finish. He says you're out catching bad guys. You're really good at that. I told daddy that you are just like Batman, you go out and you catch the bad guys like the Penguin and the Joker and Mr. Freeze. My daddy says you're even better than Batman cause you're real and I think he's right, you and my daddy are real life superheroes! I miss you Tony and I can't wait for you to come see us again, you have to see my project for the science fair, it's all about the planets!**

**Love, Tessie**

Gibbs smiled at the comparision of the sleeping man curled in the recliner to Batman and moved on to another letter.

**Dear Tony,**

**I asked my mommy and daddy why you haven't come to visit in a long time, and they said that you had an accident playing pretend. Mommy says that I should make you a get well card. Daddy said that you did the bravest thing he had ever seen but he had never known someone so stupid. But I'm not supposed to say stupid. I don't get why he gets to. That's not fair. I asked mommy how you got hurt and she said that the people you played with didn't play right, they cheated. She said that you and my daddy were being heroes and trying to save some people but the bad guys tried to hurt daddy and you stopped them. Mommy said you saved my daddy. She said you are a really big hero. I told her I already knew that. But now you are in the hospital! I don't like the hospital, it smells funny there, but I will come visit you, I promise. I'll bring Suzy! She was the bestest birthday present ever Tony, no one's ever given me a bunny before! I love her so much! Mommy says that they don't allow bunnies in the hospital by I'll be sneaky, I'm really good at being sneaky. Remember the time you and I snuck a whole package of Oreo's out of the kitchen and made super powered double chocolate smores when I couldn't go on my camping trip? That was so much fun and we were so sneaky! We should do that again, mommy wasn't too mad when she saw the mess and you did clean it up. Mommy says it's time to deliver my letter so I better finish. I drew you a picture of us having another campfire with smores and Suzy and mommy and daddy so you will get better faster and come see us again.**

**I love you Tony!**

**Love,**

**Tessie**

Gibbs leaned back on his haunches and studied the picture mentioned. It was hanging right below the letter and looked exactly as described right down the bunny Tony had apparently gotten the little girl for her birthday. He rubbed his chin with his hand, trying to unravel the mystery of the man he had been faced with.

"You make it a habit of reading another man's love letters?"

Gibbs froze, his only sign of surprise were his eyes widening slightly. He slowly rose to his feet and turned to face Tony. He was leaning across the counter, watching Gibbs, looking like he had been there for a while and didn't have a care in the world.

"I thought you were supposed to be asleep."

"I could say the same to you. Find what you were looking for?"

"Nope."

Gibbs studied Tony's face in the dim light. It was impassive. Blank as a sheet of paper. Not even curiousity shown through his green eyes.

More pieces began to come together in Gibbs' head.

Playing pretend-

Being a superhero-

He was a cop.

An undercover cop.

Judging by the impenetrable front he putting up, he appeared to be a pretty good one.

And apparently by the amount of letters mentioning playing pretend, he did it quite often.

"Do you usually go through another person's kitchen in the middle of night Special Agent Gibbs?"

Gibbs leaned against the refrigerator.

"Tell me Tony, you seem to know more about me everytime we speak, for someone who is apparently barely holding on to consciousness..."

Tony smiled.

"Work smarted not harder Agent Gibbs. You know if you had questions for me, you could have just asked rather than snooping through my house at...four in the morning. My gosh four in the morning."

"Want to go back to bed?"

"Really Gibbs, you should at least buy me dinner first."

Gibbs grinned and came back around the counter, standing next to the younger man.

"Get your *ss to the couch."

Tony nodded once, getting out of the chair and across the room with making a sound had taken a little more energy than he thought it would.

He turned and started back to his living room and was surprised to feel a firm hand grabbing his elbow. He looked at the grey haired man next him who silently helped him back to his sofa.

Tony flopped down with a groan and wrapped his arms around his aching ribs. Boy was he tired. This really had been a never ending day. Or rather, a never ending two days. The fiasco with Abby had officially launched him into his second day. Lovely.

Gibbs stood above Tony, watching him carefully. He sat staring at his knees, his eyes closed, and shaggy hair falling into his eyes. The younger man looked bone tired, and not just the kind of tired that the night's misfortunes would have brought on. There was something deeper here.

And he was Gibbs so that meant he was going to find out.

One way or another.

Tony's tired voice stopped his question.

"So Gibbs, you show up at my doorstep at two in the morning, catch me as a pass out, sleep on my couch, read the letters from my six year old admirer… I take it you have some things to ask me?"

Gibbs nodded and stood in front of Tony, using the opportunity he gave him.

"Yes. First of all, what is your d*mn name."

Tony looked up and stared at him incredulously.

"Excuse me?"

"Your name. Other than Tony. You have to have a last name."

Tony nodded.

"Yeah Gibbs, I have a last name, and I will tell you, if you sit down. This isn't an interrogation, I'm not a criminal. If you have something you want to talk to me about then you can sit down and talk to me like a civil person, not stand above me and bark, my head hurts enough as it is."

Gibbs blinked and looked at the man surprised.

Well, whoever this kid turned out to be, one thing was for sure.

He had guts.

Gibbs' lips twitched and he sat in Tony's recliner, pushing the pillows and blankets to the floor.

"Happy?"

Tony dipped his head to the side.

"Well now that you mention it-"

Gibbs growled.

"Name."

Instead of cowering like he expected, Tony chuckled.

"Anthony D. DiNozzo Jr. At your service Leroy Jethro Gibbs."

Gibbs' eyes narrowed.

"Dare I even ask how you knew that?"

Tony grinned.

"You could ask."

Gibbs quirked an eyebrow and stared.

Tony looked back, just tired enough to be willing to push this strangers buttons, see how far he could take it.

I wouldn't do that if I were you

Tony relented to the little voice in his head, heaven knew if he listened to it more often he would get in less trouble more often.

"I checked your ID while you were reading my letters. It was in your coat pocket."

Gibbs nodded once. He had put his wallet in his jacket, not wanting to sleep on it. Smart move for DiNozzo.

"The letters, who are they from?"

Tony leaned back on his couch, letting his head dangle back so he could stare at the ceiling. Gibbs could see the smile on his face as he answered.

"Tessie Alexander. The most beautiful and charming six year old you will ever meet. She's got everyone she knows wrapped around her little finger tight as can be."

Tony brought his head back up to smile at Gibbs.

"She thinks she's going to marry me someday."

Gibbs couldn't help but grin back.

"She mentions her father in the letters..."

Tony nodded.

"Detective Daniel Alexander. One of Balitmore's finest. He was my partner."

Gibbs raised his eyebrows.

"You're a detective?"

Tony smiled a bittersweet smile.

"Was Agent Gibbs. Was a detective."

Gibbs leaned forward in the chair, his own curiousity spiked.

"What happened?"

Tony rubbed his forehead, trying to get his thoughts to focus.

"Undercover operation was shot to hell. Rookie mistake made by someone who should have known better and someone else needed to take the fall."

Gibbs' gaze sharpened.

"And that someone else is you?"

Tony laughed, but the sound was hard, cold.

"Yup. Doesn't really matter now though."

"When did this happen?"

Tony sighed.

"No offense Special Agent Gibbs, but it has been a spectacularly long day and I am exhausted. I think I am going to leave off the rest of this conversation until the bright morning hours."

Gibbs was ready to argue until he noticed the heavy shadowing under the younger man's eyes.

"Fine get some rest. But we are not done with this."

Tony stood.

"Wouldn't expect it. You're on my bed."

Gibbs shook his head and pointed back to the couch.

"Get your *ss back on that sofa."

Tony raised an eyebrow but really didn't have the energy to argue.

"if you're sure."

Gibbs didn't reply, he simply settled himself farther into the chair.

Tony stretched out on the couch and turned so he was facing the back of the couch, hidden from the room.

Gibbs closed his eyes, ready to reflect on all he had learned when Tony's voice once again broke through the calm.

"I'm pretty sure there are some childhood journals scattered around here somewhere, if you still want to be a snoop."

Gibbs couldn't stop the chuckle.

"Shut up DiNozzo."

**Even concussed, tired and all around having a horrible day, Tony is still able to prove his stuff. Yup, Gibbs is going to want him on his team. Pretty please review, they make my day!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Thanks for hanging in there with me guys, here is another chapter! I hope you like it, tell me what you think!**

Something smelled amazing.

Tony found his eyes opening and himself moving towards the smell before he even realized he was awake.

Blinking the sleep out of his eyes he studied the spectacle in his hall/kitchen.

Ducky stood at his stovetop simultaneously searching through his cabinets and frying something that filled the entire room with that fantastic smell, while Abby was holding one of his DVD's and gesturing excitedly to Gibbs, who looked to be listening her with very little patience.

"Gibbs, this is the 1931, Special Edition of Dracula! On DVD! This is one of the scariest movies ever, it scared me death as a kid! I love this movie! I've been looking everywhere for it, I can't believe he has this!"

Tony pulled himself off the couch and turned to face Abby, quoting in a deep voice.

"Listen to them. Children of the night. What music they make."

Abby squealed and leaned forward eager for him to continue.

"The spider spinning his wed for the unwary fly. The blood is the life, Mr. Renfield."

Abby laughed and skipped over to Tony, wrapping her arms around him in a gentle embrace.

Tony returned her hug and smiled down at her.

"Good morning Abby, Doctor Mallard, Agent Gibbs."

Ducky waved at the young man.

"I told you Anthony, Ducky is just fine."

Tony chuckled and nodded his acknowledgement.

Gibbs grunted a good morning in Tony's general direction before turning back to Ducky.

"You find any yet Duck?"

Ducky shook his head.

"I am most sorry Jethro, maybe our young friend here can enlighten us to its whereabouts?"

Tony looked curiously at the two men as Gibbs swiveled in his direction.

"Something I can help you two find?"

"Don't you have any coffee in this place?"

Tony laughed and leaned against the kitchen counter.

"I don't actually drink it Agent Gibbs, but I do have some- it's on top of the fridge. Coffee machine is in the hall closet."

Ducky stood on his tip toes and smiled when he caught sight of the familiar container. Abby dashed down the hall and came back with the machine and set it on the counter with a flourish.

"Here you go Bossman, go for it."

Gibbs snatched everything up and began making his coffee, grumbling about the unnaturalness of those who didn't drink it.

Grinning Tony looked past the man to see what Ducky was making on the stove.

"Watcha doing Ducky?"

Ducky didn't look up from the spatula he was moving the food around with, but answered with his usual gusto.

"Cooking breakfast my dear boy. You were certainally correct about the state of your refrigerator, not a speck of edible food in there, though you may have inadvertently discovered a new strain of penicillin. So Abigail and I went grocery shopping to find us all some breakfast."

Tony blushed seeing the spread that Ducky was bringing out. Bacon, eggs, pancakes and hash-browns were all being scooped on plates along with sliced fruit and glasses of juice. They were really going all out.

"Ducky I-"

Ducky put a hand up to stop the comment before it could be said. He slid a plate of food to the other man.

"Don't say a word my boy, it's the least we could do. Please enjoy."

Tony glanced around and saw the others digging in using his plates and silverware without thought and he relaxed, spearing the eggs with a fork that was cleaner than he thought.

Thank goodness he had remembered to turn on the dishwasher.

Last week.

It really had been a while since he had been home.

Munching on the food Tony couldn't stop the moan of pure pleasure that escaped his lips. For the past month he had been living on junk food and what he could grab running through the station. This was the most delicious, not to mention nutritious food he had eaten in longer than he could remember.

"What do you think Anthony?"

Tony swallowed quickly and beamed at Ducky.

"This is-"

He was interrupted by the ringing of a cell phone. Gibbs looked at his cell and cursed under his breath before flipping open the device.

"Gibbs."

He was silent for minute, listening.

Tony and the others watched as Gibbs rolled his eyes and spoke with thinly veiled contempt.

"Yes director."

With that he shut the phone and drained the rest of his coffee.

"Abs, Duck, vacation's over, Morrow needs us back D.C."

Abby looked at Gibbs with shock.

"But Gibbs! We're supposed to be on leave all weekend!"

Gibbs patted her shoulder.

"I know Abs but we've got a dead marine, a missing senator's daughter and a lot of angry people and Morrow doesn't want anyone but us touching it. We got to go."

Abby sighed and turned back to Tony with wide eyes. Throwing her arms around him she buried her head in his shoulder. He winced but returned her hug.

"This weekend off so didn't go the way I thought it would and I am really sorry you got hurt but I am so happy I got to meet you! You are such a great guy! Someday I am going to come back here and spend time with you properly and we'll watch Dracula!"

Tony smiled and plucked the DVD off the counter where she had put it.

"You know what Abby, I have another copy of this one, why don't you take this."

Her mouth opened in a wide circle.

"Tony I couldn't!"

He laughed and put it in her hands, stepping backwards so she had no choice but to hold on to it.

"I insist."

She hugged him again.

"Thank you so much Tony. You are the greatest guy ever!"

He squeezed her shoulders.

"I think you're pretty great yourself Abby."

She sniffed and clutched the DVD close to her, moving behind Ducky who walked up to the younger man.

"You take care of yourself my boy, take it easy the next few days, pain killers, and ice those ribs!"

Tony chuckled and shook his hand.

"Yes doctor."

Ducky and Abby walked out the door together, as Ducky gave a knowing glance to his friend.

Gibbs turned to Tony who was leaning on the counter again, the long night showing on his face. Tony looked up and caught Gibbs' eye, and smiled, wiping all the fatigue from his face.

"You don't have another copy of that DVD do you?"

Tony smiled sheepishly at being caught and turned towards his kitchen, staring out the window.

"Nope. Took me nine months to find that one. Don't tell her though, I want her to enjoy it."

Gibbs nodded and began towards the door.

He walked to the hallway but paused, his back to Tony.

"DiNozzo. This won't be the last you see of us."

Tony looked back at Gibbs but he was already gone.

He moved slowly to door and poked his head into the empty hall. Seeing no one, he closed his front door and turned back into his apartment, looking around his kitchen. There were four plates of half eaten food, there was still warm coffee in the machine and his stove still had food in the various skillets. His kitchen was a mess.

And so very quiet.

He sighed and flipped on the multi-media center, starting Frank Sinatra's Ocean's Eleven where he had left off the other night. Listening to the sound of the heist movie fill the room he began to clean up the kitchen as he tried not think about how empty the apartment now felt.

NCISncisNCISncis

The car was filled with noise.

Gibbs sat in the front seat, negotiating the traffic from Baltimore to D.C. His thoughts filled with out of work detectives, tired eyes and pictures colored by six year old hands. Who was this man? This complete stranger who had risked his life for a girl in trouble, then opened his home to three unknown faces, denying his own pain and even giving up his belongings just to make a stranger smile. This person he had spoken with in the middle of the night, who had managed to sneak up on him, find his identity and hide his thoughts so perfectly. Someone who was the best friend of a six year old girl yet still able to win in a fight against five angry grown men. He was a mystery in every since of the word, a mystery that Gibbs was determined to crack.

He tightened his hands on the steering wheel and pushed the accelerator just a little bit farther.

Ducky sat next to him, writing observations down in spiral notebook he had pulled from his bag. He muttered to himself, comparing to Tony to a young man he had met in Belgium and scratched another note down. His own mind filled with thoughts of thier new friend.

Abby sat in the back chattering happily to herself, studying the movie reverently in her hands.

"I can't believe he gave this to me. This movie is incredible! Gibbs, this was the first scary movie I ever watched. My parents and I watched it together when I was five years old. I insisted on wearing a black cape for six months. I haven't seen this movie in so long. I'm going to take this home and watch this with them, they will be so excited. I can dig out my old cape! I swear Tony might be the nicest- oh my gosh! Gibbs! I don't even know his last name!"

She turned to the driver with a horror stricken expression. Gibbs answered in a neutral voice. Obviously still lost in his own thoughts.

"DiNozzo. His name is Tony DiNozzo."

Abby and Ducky exchanged looks.

"How did you-"

Gibbs quirked a smile.

"Work smarter, not harder."

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Marissa Alexander heard the doorbell ring at five till six, the exact time she expected. It was so like Tony. He would never run the risk of being late, not when they invited him to supper. Even when the invitation was more of an order than anything else. He had declined their invitation the night before but judging by the choice words Daniel had exchanged with him on the phone this afternoon, Tony didn't have a lot of say in the matter for joining them tonight.

"Tessie, would you get the door."

A blond head poked out of the play room off the kitchen.

"What mommy?"

Marissa smiled at her daughter.

"Someone is at the door, would you like to see who it is?"

Tessie's brow furrowed. She was never allowed to answer the door by herself. She stood and walked, not knowing her mom was watching her carefully, just in case.

Swinging the door open she saw the tall brunette standing in the doorway and screamed.

"Tony! You're here!"

She launched herself at the man.

Marissa smiled and moved back in the kitchen to help Daniel with the steaks.

Laughing Tony reached his arms out and caught her, putting her up on his shoulders as he came in the door, careful not to let her bump her head.

"How are you gorgeous girl?"

Tessie glowed under the attention and wrapped her hand around his neck.

"I'm great Tony, I've missed you so much. I have to show you my new doll house and the toy I got for Suzy and I started another coloring book. Why is your face all blue and purple?"

Tony smiled and nodded until she mentioned his face. At that his mouth screwed as he tried to figure out the best way to answer her question.

Hearing her daughters comment, Marissa and Daniel exchanged looks. Marissa came out of the kitchen again and walked up to Tony, worried. She stopped Tony from answering Tessie by placing her hand on his chin, trying to get a closer look at the bruising all along his jaw and framing his bright green eyes.

"Oh my...Daniel get in here."

"Coming Mari."

Daniel came around the corner and paused when he saw his former partners face.

"Tony… Hey Tessie why don't you go finish the picture you were coloring for Tony why he and Daddy talks."

Tessie looked from her parents to Tony.

"Is Tony in trouble?"

Daniel smirked then grew serious again looking at the bruising.

"Yup. He's in big trouble."

Tessie nodded seriously and gave Tony a kiss on the cheek.

She put both her hands on his face and leaned in close to whisper in his ear.

Tony smiled at what she said and gently placed her on the ground.

She looked up at him.

"It'll work, trust me."

He winked at her.

"I'll give it a shot."

She nodded and ran back to the play room, eager to color her friend another picture.

Marissa waited until her daughter disappeared then pointed to the couch.

"Sit."

He did. There were few things Tony feared in this life but one of them would always be his former partners wife.

Daniel stood in front of him and crossed his arms.

"You've got some explaining to do Tony."

Tony fought the urge to quote I Love Lucy and smiled. He looked up at the two angry blondes standing guard over him and raised an eyebrow.

"You know... your daughter just told me that if I cried you'd take it easy on me. Is it worth trying?"

NCISncisNCISncisNCIS

It was past midnight.

Again.

One of these nights he was actually going to go to bed at a decent hour.

Tony sat in his Mustang and closed his eyes. It had taken fifteen minutes to explain the story to Daniel and Marissa and another twenty to get them to calm down. Really it wasn't so much of a big deal that they needed to freak out like that. Daniel went directly into cop mode and had taken his statement along with a description of men. Marissa, a nurse, insisted on seeing his injuries, then threw another fit upon coming to the realization he had a concussion and hurt ribs and had not gone to a hospital.

He rubbed his forehead and sighed.

What a mess.

He had finally gotten them calmed down enough to sit down and eat dinner. The rest of the evening he had spent playing with Tessie until Marissa had told her it was time for bed and Daniel began talking to him about what he was going to do next. Apparently there was no changing Bergan's mind and even if there was, Tony didn't want to go back to Baltimore. It was time to move on. He just hadn't decided where.

He honestly wasn't thinking that far ahead yet.

Maybe San Diego.

Sun, palm trees, California girls.

Yeah...San Diego.

Tony was so deep in thought with the events of the past few days and a future in bright sunny California that he missed the dark Mercedes parked across the street from his apartment.

And the long lens camera following his steps into the building.

**Dun Dun Dun! Uh oh.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey everyone, sorry about the confusion last night. This was supposed to be uploaded last night but there was a glitch in my account and it didn't post right. So here is chapter 8! This is a shorter chapter but I need it to bridge a gap. I hope you enjoy and please review!**

**Thank you so much to everyone who let me know the chapter didn't upload! Thanks for reading!**

Chris Pacci rubbed his forehead, sighing, grateful for the quiet that had finally descended. The bullpen had been like a war-zone the past few days. Gibbs had stormed back into headquarters and taken over a temporary team to try and find Senator Peterson's missing daughter and the link she had between a dead marine. Four days later a murderer had been apprehended and Jennifer Peterson had gotten back home with minor injuries.

All in all- A happy ending.

For Gibbs.

For his temporary team? Not so much.

One of the agents quit half way through the case and was now working at a downtown post office. Another begged for a transfer and was assigned as agent afloat. The last had made it to the end of the case, left the building and was never seen from again.

Yup. That was Gibbs.

He chuckled to himself and turned back to his computer.

He growled at the screen and pounded some keys. His team was on cold cases for the moment, and he was stuck on one that had always given him trouble. He always came back to this case.

One day he was going to solve this.

One day.

The elevator dinged and drew his attention away from the case files he had already memorized, names and faces he knew by heart.

He looked up at the man stepping out of the steel box and registered surprise before the the name connected.

The man nodded at Pacci and then turned to Gibbs who stood. Seeing the file in the new man's hand, Gibbs looked to the elevator the man just vacated. The two stepped back into the box and left the building.

Chris looked at the now empty elevator in confusion. There were hundreds of questions swirling on his desk. Who murdered his victim, where did the marine's mother go, how was the step-sister involved, why was the uncle poisoned?

All these questions faded in the background as he faced the one he now couldn't escape thanks to Gibbs and his friend.

Why the hell was the FBI here?

NCISncisNCISncis

Tobias looked at his friend from across the table.

The two men sat at an outdoor cafe not far from NCIS headquarters, watching the rush of people around them, listening to the sounds of everyday life.

The two sat quietly, both waiting for the other to speak first.

Tobias couldn't take it anymore.

"Why did you ask me to do this?"

Gibbs took a slow sip of his coffee.

"Don't have a team at the moment, I've been busy, Abby is biased."

Tobias quirked an eyebrow and smiled. That definitely sounded like the forensic scientist. She didn't think anyone was good enough for her 'silver fox' and would use any excuse imaginable to keep someone she felt was hinky away from her bossman.

"She doesn't think he's right for your team?"

Gibbs smiled around his steaming coffee.

"Actually she adores him. Needed a third party."

Fornell nodded thoughtfully and slid the file over to Gibbs waiting hands.

"I have the feeling you owe me a story but this is everything I could find on one Anthony D. DiNozzo Jr. If he's someone you're considering, you're going to have your hands full. The kid has bounced through three different precincts in the past six years. He was just let go from Baltimore because of an undercover mission. Although I have to admit, something with that job doesn't make any sense, I'm still not sure why he was let go, it doesn't seem to be his fault. Still he seems to be nothing but trouble. You sure he's worth it?"

Gibbs smirked and took a long drink.

NCISncisNCISncis

Daniel Alexander made an extreme effort not to slam his front door. He was so...furious. Furious was a good word for it. The captain had assigned him a new partner and the man was about as intelligent as a brick. Actually he thought a brick might make better conversation.

Daniel rubbed his hand down his face wryly, he had been spoiled with DiNozzo. If there was thing he good at-it was talking. True it had driven him nuts the first few weeks of their partnership, but after an especially trying case Tony had managed to stop a fight between Daniel and another officer and was somehow able to make a young girl, who had her entire life ripped away, smile. After seeing the girl, with blood and tears mingled on her cheeks, smiling at the Italian man, Daniel found he didn't mind Tony's chatter so much.

Besides, the kid was brilliant. He found trails and connections where other saw nothing. He had almost single handedly solved several cases before Daniel was assigned to be his permanent partner, back when he had no credit and no support. Tony still wasn't given enough credit but for some reason he liked it that way. He was a better partner than Daniel had ever had before. He was almost family.

And now Daniel had...that instead.

He muttered and kicked his shoes off, pushing the slide-bolt shut as if he could lock the dead bodies and empty stares outside, as far away from his family as possible.

Daniel began walking through his house, checking windows out of habit, making sure all the seals were safe. He made it to the kitchen and found a plate of food sitting on counter waiting for him.

He smiled, Marissa was always watching out for him.

He had been out all night on a stake-out and things had come to a head before he had managed to eat supper. Popping the plate of pork roast in the microwave he read the note she left.

_D-_

_Tonight the little boy down the street told Tessie that babies come birds when mommies and daddies are too busy. Apparently he got the stork story a little confused. Tessie then ran outside and began screaming at the pigeons in the street "Make me a little sister, Mommy and Daddy won't do it!" The neighbors didn't stop laughing for over an hour. I can't show my face around here anymore, we should move to California with Tony. Speaking of which, Tony called. He didn't leave message, he said it wasn't important, but I have a bad feeling. Call him back when you can._

_Hurry up and eat and then get your butt up to bed, I miss you._

_~M_

Daniel chuckled and folded the note sliding it in his pocket. He could see his daughter doing just that. She had been asking for a little brother or sister for a while but now it seemed like she had moved on to asking birds. Wonderful.

He sobered as he thought of Tony.

Danny glanced at the clock and saw that it was almost two in the morning, he couldn't call now.

But then again...It was Tony.

He pulled his phone from his pocket but before he could dial he was surprised to see he had a voicemail.

_Danny, something doesn't add up. Stephan contacted me, he needs help, the girls need help. Bergan said everything wrapped up and everyone was found but they weren't. He lied Daniel. I'm not leaving the kids behind. Time's running out. Look at the evidence again, get it out of Baltimore, something's missing. Get it to Washington, Leroy Jethro Gibbs, NCIS. Ask him to help. If he doesn't...well I suppose I'm screwed but it's worth a shot. I'm going back in Danny. I have to. I'm not leaving them behind. I'll contact you. If I can._

The voicemail cut off.

Daniel stood in the kitchen. Not moving. Barely breathing. He could hear the microwave beeping, his phone asking what he wanted to do with the message, but he couldn't acknowledge any of it.

All he could hear was Tony's words.

_I'm going back in._

_I have to._

_Leroy Jethro Gibbs...help...if he doesn't…_

_I'm screwed._

_I'm going back in._

_He lied._

_Needs help._

_I'm going back in. Back in. Back in._

Danny tightened the grip on his phone until the plastic cracked.

Marissa came into the kitchen bleary eyes and confused but paused when she Danny frozen next to the microwave.

"Danny? Honey, it's...two in the morning, what are you doing?"

He turned to her and she took an involuntary step back at the look in his eyes.

"Danny?"

"Marissa...Tony's in trouble."


	9. Chapter 9

**Woo! Big long chapter in here! We're finally having Gibbs and Daniel meet and Gibbs is going to find out the details of the ugly undercover mission Tony just got off of. I know we haven't had much Tony lately but the next chapter will have him in it, I promise. Please tell me what you think and as always I hope you all enjoy!**

"Gibbs!"

The shout that echoed across the room drew the attention of everyone in the bullpen except the man who's name was called.

Abby came racing through room, dodging desks and frazzled agents as she held papers above her head. Sliding to a stop in front of his desk, she slammed a manilla folder in front of Gibbs.

He looked up at her from the papers he was reading and raised an eyebrow.

"Abby?"

She smiled.

"Okay Gibbs, so I know you don't like anyone to get involved when you are choosing a team, but I decided to do a little digging. I knew that something was up with Tony, he wasn't just your average good Samaritan, I mean there are people who stop if someone needed help but really though, how many people would put their lives on the line? Not very many. So I wanted to see who this guy really was. Turns out Tony is a detective! Or at least he was. He was fired the very day that he saved me Gibbs, but he totally shouldn't have been! The undercover job he was assigned to was completely hinky, one of the other agents turned and things went south and Tony took the fall for it! Now I know that I technically belong to all of NCIS but I like to think that I am part of your team and as being part of your team I think that you should consider Tony becoming a member of our family. He is such a nice guy and I think that...that...what are you reading?"

Gibbs stared at Abby silently for a moment before lifting up the papers.

Abby leaned forward, reading the name on the top of the first paper.

"You...already...have his file."

"Yup."

She pursed her lips.

"You're already considering him?"

"Yup."

Abby locked her fingers together in front of her.

"I did all of that for nothing then, didn't I?"

He nodded.

She sighed.

"Am I in trouble?"

Gibbs tilted his head.

"That depends. What did you find? Maybe you can fill in some blanks Tobias left."

She smiled and grabbed a chair from an empty desk.

"I never leave blanks Gibbs. Well almost never. I don't have anything from his time before college. It that didn't seem all that important..."

Gibbs looked up at her, a cool blue stare meeting her eyes.

"...But I could be wrong?"

"Everything is important."

She nodded.

Gibbs began flipping through the papers Abby gave him, mostly it looked the same as Fornell's. DiNozzo's file was full of reprimands and notes and a surprisingly high number hospital bills. Alone they would be damning but they were overshadowed by mentions of bravery and courageous actions. His file showed a man who took fast action when action was needed and payed for the consequences when they were due.

As much as Gibbs hated to admit-the kid reminded him of himself.

Abby sat in silence as long as she could, bouncing in her chair, watching Gibbs read. Finally she couldn't take it anymore.

"So?"

Gibbs looked up at her.

"So?"

Abby sighed and pointed at the papers.

"So-Are you going to hire him?"

Gibbs opened his mouth to answer when his phone began to ring.

"Yeah Gibbs…what?…yeah send him up."

He hung the phone up and looked towards the windows with an intense expression.

"Gibbs? What's going on?"

He continued staring towards the window and answered her quietly.

"Detective Daniel Alexander is here."

"Who?"

"Tony's old partner."

"What? Why? Is Tony alright? Why would he come here?"

"We're about to find out."

NCISncisNCISncis

This place was huge. Daniel knew that Baltimore wasn't the smallest precinct in the area but it was nothing compared to NCIS. But then again it wasn't a federal agency. Maybe he should look into switching careers, this place was swank.

Great. Now I'm starting to think like DiNozzo.

Daniel brought his focus up as he was led into wide room filled with windows and a wall covered with photos of dangerous people. He paused recognizing one of the men on the wall as a notorious terrorist. A bright red line was pasted through his face.

"Detective?"

He pulled his attention back to the agent leading him through the room.

"Yes, sorry."

"This way."

He followed the man to a section of desks below a balcony. Three of the four desks were empty, and the fourth had an older man with a marines hair cut and a young woman dressed in black and chains.

The man nodded at the agent behind him.

"I got him."

The other man left, leaving Daniel alone with the two strangers.

"Agent Gibbs? I'm Detective Alexander."

Abby bounced from her chair and raised her hand.

"Hi, I'm-"

"Abby Scuito. I know. Tony told me about meeting the two of you. And a Doctor Mallard. He's the one who patched up Tony when the idiot refused to go to the hospital."

Abby nodded

"That's us!"

Daniel smiled tightly at her and looked over at Gibbs who was still watching the man carefully.

"Agent Gibbs?"

"What can I do for you Detective?"

"Tony…he… we… he's in trouble, with his last undercover."

Gibbs' eyes narrowed.

"He doesn't work for Baltimore anymore, why is he still involved?"

"No he doesn't and I don't know. He's on his own. Agent Gibbs, I understand if you don't want to help, you don't really know Tony and I get that, but I trust him. If he says he can't trust our department… He's out there alone Agent Gibbs. Please."

Gibbs stared hard Daniel for a long minute.

Abby looked between the two men, biting her lip.

"He told you to come to us?"

Both men turned and looked at Abby in surprise before Daniel answered.

"Tony thought he could trust you."

Abby looked over at Gibbs who stood and began walking towards the elevator.

"Agent Gibbs?"

Gibbs paused and raised an eyebrow.

"You coming?"

Daniel rushed after him with Abby close behind.

"Where we going bossman?"

Gibbs hit a button on the panel.

"Somewhere where no one is going to overhear us. I want the whole story."

Abby looked over and squeezed Daniel's shoulder.

"It's going to be okay."

Daniel sighed and rubbed his forehead.

"I hope so. Tony's not very good at being careful."

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"Now you see young man, that is why mother simply couldn't stand the music of Elvis."

"Ducky?"

The doctor looked up from the dead sailor he was pushing into the drawers to see three people standing just inside the doors of autopsy.

"Jethro? I don't have anything for you, I thought that your case wrapped up."

Gibbs nodded and hit a button on the door locking them from anyone else entering.

"You expecting anyone Duck?"

"No, I was finished for the day."

"Good."

Gibbs walked further into the room and leaned on one the autopsy table. Abby hopped upon another while Daniel slowly walked into the room.

"This is autopsy."

"Yup."

Daniel smiled a rueful grin.

"You know, before all of this started, Tony was good friends with our M.E. Doctor James Treinen. He would go down there after a hard case and chat until he unwound. The two got along great. I think Dr. Treinen was lonely, and Tony knew it, he always gravitates towards people who needs him. He's good like that."

Daniel rubbed the top of one of the autopsy tables and sighed.

Ducky looked at the three in confusion.

"I'm sorry, do you know our dear Anthony?"

Daniel chuckled.

"Anthony? He let you call him that? He must really like the three of you if he let you get away with that. Tony is, was my partner at Baltimore. I'm detective Alexander. You can call me Daniel. That is any of you can, if you like."

Gibbs and Ducky shared a look, it was easy to tell that the detective was stressed and worried beyond what he could handle.

"Detective, start from the beginning, what is going on?"

Daniel leaned against a table and sighed putting his head in his hands.

"Gosh this is such a mess... Okay, I'll have to start from the very beginning for this to make any sense. Tony didn't want to do this. He had just gotten off his third undercover job, he was tired, worn out, the department was breaking its own rules sending him out again and again so close to each job. There's bad blood between Tony and Bergan. Tony accidentally launched an internal affairs investigation and it uncovered some ugly things about the department. Bergan kept his job, but just barely. Ever since Bergan has had it out for Tony. He puts him on undercover job after undercover job, I honestly thought he was just looking for a reason to fire him. I tried to take it to the higher ups but no one would do anything. Bergan wanted to either drive Tony to exhaustion and make him screw himself over or quit. And Tony never quits. He just kept going. And kept solving cases. It was driving Bergan nuts and killing Tony. So one day he called the two of us into his office..."

**Flashback**

"Detectives DiNozzo and Alexander, my office, Now!"

Tony looked over at and Daniel and rolled his eyes.

"Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning."

Daniel smirked.

"Yeah, let's not tick him off any further, come on."

The two shrugged and walked into the office of the angry red-faced man. Daniel hung back, keeping an eye on Tony. His walk was slower than usual, a slight limp he was trying to hide. His last undercover had ended with him in the hospital with a blow to the head and major bruises all over his body. He was still moving pretty slow and had apparently signed himself out of the hospital AMA again. He always did this. If Tony survived whatever Bergan had planned for him this time, Daniel was going to kill him.

"Detectives. Tell me what you know about Malachi family."

Tony and Daniel exchanged glances and then Daniel began to speak.

"The Malachi family is a branch off of the Italian Mafia that has moved throughout the US. They settled in New York in the 1920's and have spread throughout the major cities of the United States. They have a pretty strong foothold in the Baltimore area dealing in drugs and prostitution."

Bergan nodded.

"Excellent job Detective Alexander. Do you have anything to add Detective DiNozzo or are you going to continue to let your partner do all the work."

Tony sighed.

"The 'father' of the family Vittorio Malachi has been arrested almost a dozen times but no charges have ever stuck. The man practically has immunity towards everything brought against him, no one will roll on him. The man thinks he is untouchable."

Bergan moved around his desk and got into Tony's face.

"You may think he is untouchable DiNozzo, but I think that everyone can be brought to justice!"

The man huffed and turned back to his desk.

Tony sighed and leaned over to Daniel and whispered.

"Did I say I thought he was untouchable?"

Daniel smirked and shook his head.

"Ignore him."

Tony shook his head and turned back to his captain who had settled himself back behind his desk.

"So gentlemen, everything you told me is true, but we have some new developments. Malachi has moved on to bigger things than drugs and girls, we have some insider information that has revealed to us that Malachi has moved on to human trafficking."

Tony and Daniel looked at each other in shock.

"Human trafficking?"

"Yes Detective DiNozzo, did I stutter?"

Tony shoved his hands in his pockets to hide his clenched fists.

Daniel stepped up, knowing that Bergan was pushing Tony's buttons on purpose, and with Tony as tired as he was, there wasn't a whole lot of restraint left in him.

"What do you want us to do captain? Bring in Vittorio?"

Bergan shook his head.

"We don't have anything pinning him to it yet. We need someone on the inside. DiNozzo."

Tony looked up in shock shining in his gaze.

"What? But...I just..."

"Excuse me? Did I ask for your permission detective? This is not a debate. The way I see it you have two options, you can either take this undercover or you can start looking for another job. But be aware, you will not be getting a reference from here. The job market is vicious these days and with a record like yours… I would make your decision carefully."

Tony looked at Bergan, anger and pain bright in his eyes though his face remained impassive.

Daniel looked at Tony in dismay and moved closer to his partner, trying to offer comfort without showing weakness to the captain.

"Captain Bergan, with all due respect you can't be serious. Tony's been on three undercover jobs in the past four months alone. There is no way that he can be sent out again. This is unethical and dangerous. He just got out of the hospital!"

Bergan leveled his glare at Daniel.

"Detective Alexander, I suggest that you keep your thoughts to yourself or-"

"Okay! Okay let's not make a big deal out of this. I'm going back undercover. Alright. What's the story?"

**End Flashback**

Gibbs clenched his fists so that his fingernail scraped across the top of the autopsy table. Abby winced at the sound. Ducky shook his head worriedly.

"This was his fourth undercover mission? And he was threatened with unemployment if he did not comply? Directly after he was released from the hospital?"

Ducky sputtered, unable to say anything other than repeat what Daniel had told them.

Daniel sighed and walked over to a x-ray on the wall. He stared at it quietly for a moment before he began speaking again.

"There wasn't a lot of options. Tony has bounced around from several different precincts. People don't like that, between his father and history, it was hard for his to get this job, for him to start over again…"

Abby looked over at Ducky and mouthed,

"His father?"

He shrugged and whispered back-

"Not now."

Gibbs looked hard at Daniel.

"What happened with the case?"

Daniel gave a bitter chuckle and his sarcasm made Abby flinch.

"Oh, it turned out great."

**Flashback**

"Officer Blake, do we have eyes on the subject?"

"Negative Detective Alexander."

Daniel cursed under his breath. Tony had been undercover in the Malachi for nearly six months. Longer than any of the other departments they had partnered with, and had amazing success. He had moved up the ranks quickly and had become Vittorio's second in command. Tony had a finger in almost every pie that Malachi was cooking. He was feeding information to Daniel every week and they were slowly shutting down drug deals and prostitution rings but making little progress with the human trafficking.

Bergan had been getting frustrated. All of Tony's progress meant nothing to him. To Daniel it seemed like Bergan was getting more and more unbalanced. All he did was rage against Tony and what he hadn't found.

But that had changed.

Tony had contacted him last night and said that he had made a break in the human trafficking. Malachi was bringing in under-age girls from South America and introducing them to his prostitution ring. Tony sent him information on where the girls were being held and that new girls were being brought in tonight. The coast guard and Baltimore police department were working together to shut the entire operation down when the girls were brought in, hidden in shipping containers on a freighter.

The plan was to fall into all three locations Tony had given them, the warehouses, boats, and hotel that Malachi had set up for the girls. They were going to hit them all at the same time, locking down the 'family' from the bottom to top.

Or at least that was the plan until they lost contact with Tony.

He pressed the mike in his ear, hoping to hear a response.

"Does anyone see DiNozzo?"

Negatives all around.

Daniel cursed again.

"Detective? What do we do?"

Daniel looked around himself, hoping the answer would leap out at him.

"Stick to the plan. We move in ten, get everyone in position."

Everyone affirmed and the mike went dead.

Daniel squeezed his eyes shut.

"Come on Tony, where are you?"

It was quiet for a long moment, six minutes till action.

Still no sign of Tony.

Daniel really didn't want to think about what that could mean.

He found he couldn't think about much else.

"Please Tony, let me know what's going on. Be okay."

Daniel's whispers were interrupted by gunfire and shouting.

A sudden voice came over the mike.

"We got DiNozzo! He's banged up and got some girls with him, Vittorio's thugs are coming after him, what do we do?"

Daniel jerked to his feet.

Three minutes.

Could they do it this early?

If they did they could lose the ship with the girls.

If they didn't they would lose Tony.

Tony would never forgive him if he sacrificed innocent children for him. He would never recover from that.

"Damn it."

"Detective, the ship's here early!"

Daniel didn't even have to think.

"Move in!"

**End Flashback**

"We shut everything down. Recovered the girls from the ship, shut down the hotel and managed to take down almost everyone from bottom thugs to Vittorio himself. A few minor players escaped but we have warrants for their arrest. We've been watching for them, there is enough evidence for them all to go away for a very long time. Tony's cover had been blown by one of our own men, the b*st*rd didn't know about the hit we were planning or else Vittorio would have been long gone. Vittorio had no idea we were coming on him that night, Tony convinced him it was happening later in the month. He had his thugs work him over pretty good, so I guess he believed Tony wasn't able to lie. Good for us he didn't know Tony. They left him unconscious with only one guard. He over-powered him and then found some girls held not far away from him. He barely got them all out before we came through the door. I've never seen Tony so happy to see me. Tony was sent to the hospital with a mild concussion and busted ribs. He finally gets off medical leave comes back into the office and is fired. Bergan's excuse? His cover was blown. Didn't even care how. All that work to keep his job and it didn't even matter. You know what the funny thing is? Tony was okay with it. He said he wouldn't have had it any other way because there is no way of knowing whether or not those girls would have been saved if things wouldn't have gone down like they did. That's Tony. Always the bright side. Then the same day he gets fired, he meets Abby then you two. That's one of the reasons he was so...off after helping Abby. Normally he has better control of himself, but after so many hospital visits, the exhaustion and the general pain of getting beat up, spending most of his night in a state of unconsciousness doesn't sound too off."

Ducky tutted and nodded.

"That certainly explains a lot. The concussion he had was mild, not nearly enough to account for the amounts he was losing consciousness. I was concerned but he was so insistent that he was fine. I should have taken more care to…"

"Doc, if he let you look at him at all, then you've already done more for him then most doctors ever do."

Ducky sighed and looked over at Gibbs.

"Jethro?"

He was quiet as he turned to Daniel.

"Why did you come to us for help."

Daniel didn't say anything.

He simply pulled his phone out and hit his voicemail.

Tony's distracted breathless voice filled the room.

"Danny, something doesn't add up. Stephan contacted me, he needs help, the girls need help. Bergan said everything wrapped up and everyone was found but they weren't. He lied Daniel. I'm not leaving the kids behind. Time's running out. Look at the evidence again, get it out of Baltimore, something's missing. Get it to Washington, Leroy Jethro Gibbs, NCIS. Ask him to help. If he doesn't...well I suppose I'm screwed but it's worth a shot. I'm going back in Danny. I have to. I'm not leaving them behind. I'll contact you. If I can."

Gibbs' lips thinned when he heard the strain underneath the breathless voice of Tony.

Daniel looked at Gibbs.

"Agent Gibbs. We got everyone. I swear, we got all the girls. Tony wouldn't go back in without back-up, not without talking to me. He wouldn't just leave a voicemail. We have the records of everyone in the Malachi family and there is no Stephan anywhere. I don't know what is going on but if Tony went back into Malachi… it wasn't by choice. I think...I think what was left of the family is coming after him. He was trying to leave me clues in the voicemail, I just can't figure this out. Bergan has something to do with it I just know it, and Tony is in trouble. If you don't help...I don't know what I'm going to do. "

Gibbs stared past the three others in the room and spoke with a barely contained rage.

"Give Abby the evidence and tell me everything you can about Bergan and the men who weren't brought in. Tony's not alone anymore. We'll bring him home."


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey everyone, sorry for the delay in this chapter, it's been pretty interesting around here, I haven't had a whole lot of time to write. I did a couple of edits in the last chapter to make this a bit more understandable, a couple people had some questions so I hope it helps everything make more sense. I know some of you are finding this story a little confusing and you are wondering what on earth Tony is doing, but please bear with me, I promise it will all make sense. And for those of you who have a pretty good grasp on what it going on, Good Job! I hope you all are enjoying the story and thank you so much for sticking with me, it means so much to me. Please review and tell me what you think, I love hearing everyones reactions and thoughts!**

**Sorry for the super long A/N, I'll let you get to the story!**

**Renee**

Abby was great at multi-tasking. She really was. But when she was doing the jobs of three people, things tended to slow down.

And it didn't help having a stranger breathing down her neck.

"Have you found anything yet?"

Abby swiveled in her chair to glare at the man.

"I cannot make the computers go any faster."

Daniel looked down, his mouth twisting.

Abby felt her heart lurch seeing the sadness on the man's face.

"Daniel...I know that you're worried about Tony, we're going to find him."

He sighed and shook his head, rubbing the back of his neck.

"I know we'll find him, but in what state? Tony has a bad habit of ticking people off and if what happened to him is what I think…"

Abby reached over and squeezed the man's shoulder. She was worried too, at least she had her babies to put her energy into, all Daniel could do is sit there and wait.

"W-what do you think happened to him?"

Daniel hopped off the stool he had been perched on and walked over to the window, straining to see out of the underground lab.

"Stephan, the man Tony mentioned in the voicemail? There wasn't a man by that name. Not in the Malachi family. I've gone through our records over and over again and there was no man. But...the cop, the one who blew Tony's cover? His name was Stephan Cline. I can't help but think that Tony was trying to tell me something. He didn't go back undercover. Not without more information and the only one he could get information from is me. He would talk to me first. I...I think what was left of Malachi came after him."

Abby chewed on her bottom lip and thought about the kind hearted man who had come to her rescue. She began to type faster.

The doors of her lab swished open the exact moment her computer dinged.

"Watcha got Abs?"

"Gibbs! The video camera from the streetlight on Tony's block's footage just came in. And I'm still running checks on all the guys we have records of in the Malachi family to see if the name Stephan pops up, but Daniel thinks that it is the name of a cop and this is all an inside job."

Gibbs looked to Daniel who turned to Abby.

"Can we see the footage Ms. Scuito?"

"Only if you call me Abby."

With that she hit the button and the two men flanked her shoulders.

She began to fast forward to the date of the voicemail.

Daniel blinked when he realized that it had only been last night that he had gotten that call. Funny how much could change in one night.

Gibbs' eyes narrowed, leaning closer towards the screen.

"Wait, Abby, go back to midnight."

Abby looked over at him curiously and did as he asked.

He nodded to himself.

"Fast forward to midnight of the next day." He watched carefully, his jaw clenching as the video showed what he suspected.

"Keep pausing at midnight until we get to the night he left the message."

She made it the night before last before Gibbs asked her to stop again.

Daniel leaned in, turning his head to the side.

"There is a car parked across the street. Same car, every night. Doesn't show up until eleven and doesn't leave until two."

Abby looked at Gibbs in surprise.

"I thought your eye sight was supposed to be shot."

He ignored her and waited for her to get the night that everything went to hell.

Abby began hitting buttons and narrating for the men.

"Here we go. The black car shows up on time...and someone gets out!"

The three watched with bated breathe as two tall muscled men got out of the car and walked to the apartment building.

They waited.

Twenty minutes on the video passed.

"What is going on?"

Gibbs squeezed Abby's hand silently.

Another fifteen minutes.

Finally the men came back out, with one addition. One man had a tight grip on Tony's shoulder and the other had an arm wrapped around his waist. Tony's face was obscured from view, but his head hung low and his feet were dragging.

He was unconscious.

Gibbs clenched his fists as he watched the men shove Tony in the back of the car. One climbed in after him, while the other got in the drivers seat. The car pulled out onto the street and was gone.

With Tony.

"Abby get a trace on that car. Alexander, we're going to Tony's apartment."

Daniel nodded absentmindedly and followed the man out of the room.

Abby looked back at the screen and whispered-

"You'll be okay. I know you will. You have to be, you're supposed to join our family. Don't you dare let me down."

NCISncisNCISncis

Daniel got into the elevator after Gibbs, trying not to think about Tony, how his bright, happy, bouncy friend, who couldn't sit still to save his life, was being dragged from his home in the middle of the night and shoved into the back of a car.

He swallowed hard.

Who knew what was happening to him.

Who knew if he was even…

Daniel turned his head.

He was not going to think like that.

He was not going to come home and tell his daughter that...

No.

The jerking of the elevator coming to an abrupt halt tore Daniel from his thoughts.

He turned and looked at the man standing next to him.

"Agent Gibbs? What's going on?"

Gibbs narrowed his eyes.

"I don't know Detective Alexander you tell me."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, this doesn't make a whole lot of sense. I have an out of work detective who is dragged from his apartment in the middle of the night but still manages to send you a voicemail. A voicemail that says he's gone back undercover, something you claim is impossible and must be covering for something else. And then we have you, someone who just shows up at my work, needing my help to find someone that I have met once. And let's not forget that you think that this whole thing is an inside job. And I'm curious Detective, have you even gone to his apartment to check out the scene?"

Daniel's face flushed at the reprimand. Had he checked out DiNozzo's apartment? No, not really. He had gone and banged on the door for nearly twenty minutes and when no one answered, he turned back around and drove straight to Washington.

As for the rest of it-

Daniel straightened and narrowed his eyes, taking a step closer to Gibbs, who crossed his arms passively..

"Look Agent Gibbs I don't particularly care whether this makes a whole lot of sense to you or not, because to be honest, I'm as confused as hell. All I know is that Tony is in trouble and that is more than enough reason for me to get involved. Because he would do the same if it was me. Because that's who Tony is. He's the guy who would step in-between you and danger in a heart beat. He's taken more hits for me than I can count. He does it for everyone. But then again, you already know that don't you? As far as I can tell, you would be down one forensic scientist if it wasn't for my boy. He took a beating for your family. All I want to do is bring him home."

Gibbs didn't respond, merely regarded the man in front of him with expressionless eyes.

Daniel took that to be as close to encouragement to continue as he would get from this man, so he kept going.

"You know, Tony didn't even want to tell me what happened between him and your girl. He was going to try to shove it under the rug, if I wouldn't have dragged him back to my place to shove some decent food in him, I never would have known. He shows up at my house all bruised and banged up, and I suddenly have a six year old asking why her best friend is the color purple. Took us ages to get the whole story out of Tony. He doesn't do anything to get credit, he just wants to help those who need it. I think the world needs more people like that, those who just want to take care of everyone, no matter how much it screws them over. If you got the chance to know him Agent Gibbs, I think Tony would really surprise you, you might find that he is something truly special."

He leaned in further, getting dangerously close to Gibbs.

"But if we don't get our *sses in gear, then you may never get that chance."

The silence in the elevator was suffocating. Daniel could hear his words echoing back in his ears, but he could bring himself to regret a single one.

Gibbs uncrossed his arms and studied the man in front of him quietly for a moment.

The seconds that followed stretched until Daniel thought he was going to lose what little control he had.

After an indeterminable amount of time, Gibbs nodded to himself and hit the button, restarting the lift.

"Then we better get going."

Daniel sighed in relief. As the elevator moved quietly, he looked at the man next to him.

"You have something else you want to say?"

Daniel swallowed.

"What do you think this is?"

Gibbs stared straight forward as he said.

"Something doesn't sit right with your department."

"You think it's an inside job too! Why-Why did you just put me through all that then?"

The elevator dinged and the doors pulled apart. Gibbs walked to his car, his reply tossed his over his shoulder to the shocked detective.

"Just making sure you know what you're getting yourself into. If this is related to Baltimore, this is going to get ugly."

Daniel stared at his back for a moment before chasing after him, mumbling under his breath.

"When was it ever pretty?"

NCISncisNCISncis

The walk up to Tony's apartment was just like Gibb's remembered it.

Mainly-dirty.

He sighed as the two walked unhindered into the lobby of his building and started up the stairs.

You would think a detective would choose a place with better security.

They came to Tony's door and Gibbs tried the handle.

It swung open without a catch.

He swiveled his glare at Daniel.

"It didn't occur to you to check the door?"

Daniel looked up at Gibbs with shocked eyes.

"It was locked."

Gibbs pulled his gun and Daniel followed suit. Silently the two stepped into the apartment.

Only to be greeted by the biggest mess they had ever seen.

Tony's couch and recliner were slashed, and the contents of the bean bag chair were spilling out and scattered across the floor. His kitchen was ransacked, dishes broke everywhere, the oven and refrigerator both left open.

Gibbs heard a strangled noise coming from the direction of the entertainment center.

He turned quickly, his gun already rising.

It was Daniel.

He was standing amidst dozens of DVD's. Their cases open and the discs cracked and shattered.

Gibbs watched him carefully as the man bent and picked up a disc, gently brushing debris off of it before straightening.

He looked up at the other man, and Gibbs was surprised to see the amount sorrow present in his eyes.

His voice caught in several places as he read the title on the DVD.

"M-Magnum P.I. H-he's seen every episode, has s-some of the memorized."

Gibbs looked away and started down the hall, giving the other man a moment.

He barely knew Tony, and he almost needed a moment.

He checked the guest room and bathroom, seeing that they were in the same state as the rest of the apartment.

He turned to the master bedroom.

Or what was left of it.

The mattress had been slashed, pictures on the wall had been shattered. There were several books scattered around the room, with pages in tatters. Gibbs leaned against the hall and sighed, two thoughts forcing out all the others. Two questions demanding to be answered.

What the hell happened here?

And where was Tony DiNozzo?

NCISncisNCISncis

The piercing pain in his side had faded to dull ache.

Unless he moved of course.

Or tried to breathe.

If he did either of those things, it felt like something was trying to rip itself out of him.

Like in Alien when the space creature came bursting out of John Hurt's character.

Well if all else failed, at least there wasn't a evil space alien about to come flying from his stomach. And at least his last name wasn't Hurt. Though with the amount of trouble he had been getting into lately, it would be fitting.

Tony smiled.

Or at least he tried to.

He was fairly certain his jaw was broken, and it made smiling, and not to mention talking, rather difficult.

Like that would stop him.

The man leaned towards him menacingly.

"You know, I could tell you that if you would do something for us, give us information, a favor, all this would stop. But that would be lying. And you know how we hate liars."

Tony snorted as he pulled his head up from staring at the floor. His eyes met those of the man he knew all too well and his smile widened.

"I hear you hate hypocrites too."

The blow to the head came hard and fast and unconsciousness came soon after. Tony gratefully sunk back into oblivion as the man looked at him in frustration.

He shook his head and walked to opposite side of the room where his cheap polyester suit jacket was hanging. He pulled it on while moving back over to Tony.

He roughly ran his hand through the other man's hair and chuckled.

Nodding to himself he left the room, shutting the door firmly on the man tied to the hard wooden chair.

Whistling a high pitched tune, he walked from the storage unit, locking the door behind him before getting into his car, and driving downtown. If he didn't get going, he was going to be late for work.

And that would just be a horrible start to his day.


	11. Chapter 11

**This chapter was one of those that was really difficult to write. I hope you all like it, though I know with the ending, a lot of you will not, and I am really sorry, but since starting this story I knew that this is what needed to happen. If you want the reason behind it please PM me and I will gladly explain it. I hope you all are having a great evening or morning or afternoon or whatever time it where you are reading this. Please review and tell me what you think!**

Gibbs and Daniel sat at a scarred kitchen table. A knife had gouged deep into the oak top, forever marring it.

The front door had been dusted for prints, along with everything else in the room that wasn't completely destroyed and they were already back to Abby.

Daniel sighed and looked at another piece of evidence from the undercover. Although it was obvious Tony hadn't gone back undercover, he had been taken, there still had to be something there, a link.

They just had to find it.

Gibbs sat back in his chair, his eyes darting all over the room.

The two men had turned Tony's ruined home into momentary headquarters, unable to go to Baltimore P.D., not wanting to put Daniel's family at risk and not wanting to get any farther away from Tony than necessary, his apartment was the only avenue.

His gut was roiling, his thoughts unable to get peace. Something in this room didn't make sense.

Well obviously. The room is torn to pieces.

But still.

Gibbs stood from his chair and walked across the room, his eyes glued to an air vent.

"Gibbs?"

"How often did Tony get back to his apartment when he was undercover?"

Daniel furrowed his brow.

"He didn't. It was too big of a risk. He hired a woman in the building to keep the place clean, set it up with the bank to have his rent and bills pulled from his account every month. I came by once a week to pick up his mail and check on the place."

Gibbs nodded thoughtfully, drawing closer to air vent.

"You ever notice something strange about the door, any sign of someone picking the lock?"

Daniel's eyes widened as Gibbs pulled out a knife and began to unscrew the air vent.

"Well, yeah actually, but I didn't think about it, there were already marks there. Six months after Tony moved here, he lost his keys and had to pick his own lock. I guess I just...never paid much attention to them. I….why?"

Gibbs reached in the vent and pulled out a small electronic camera.

"Oh my...is that a-"

Gibbs nodded.

"Is it?"

He shook his head.

"It's been deactivated. I'm going to send it to Abby and see what see can find, maybe it can be traced back to whoever placed it."

Daniel nodded, his throat tight.

Gibbs stepped out of the room and began to inspect other places where the camera could be hidden. Daniel sat at the table and stared at the opposite wall.

What kind of friend am I? I didn't even check the lock for someone breaking in!

Gibbs stood in Tony's wrecked bedroom and pulled out a cell.

"Abby, I have a wireless camera I need you to back hack. I'm going to bring it up to you tonight, along with a couple other presents."

Abby replied excitedly and then began to share what she had found on the car.

Gibbs scowled when he heard what she said.

"Thanks Abs."

He ended the call and hit one of the few speed dials he had allowed Abby to put in the hated machine.

Two rings before a curious voice picked up.

"Gibbs?"

"Fornell, I'm calling in a favor."

Daniel sat at the table, rubbing his forehead staring at the scars left in Tony's table. He sighed staring at the little camera sitting in front of him. That thing had been staring at his partner for...for how long? Watching him. Sending the information back to...who?

Daniel cracked his fist into the table and drew his elbows up before putting his head in his hands.

Gibbs snapped the phone shut and stalked back into the dining room.

"Alexander."

The man looked up from the internal beating he was giving himself.

"Gibbs?"

"The man who ruined Tony's undercover, Stephan Cline, what happened to him?"

Daniel shook his head.

"Bergan said he would handle it. A couple of our guys took him back to the station and booked him, then took him to a cell. I was on my to the hospital with DiNozzo. Last I heard he was in lock-up and then transferred to an actual facility."

Gibbs nodded to himself and went searching for a personnel file he had read over an hour ago.

He read through the file and his eyes narrowed, finding what he was searching for, his arm quickly reached out to snatch up another piece of paper.

He began reading through the two, comparing something that Daniel was not privy to.

"Gibbs?"

He smiled something so hard and thin it shouldn't be called a smile and stood.

Daniel followed him, jogging to catch up as the older man sped out of the room.

"Want to share what is going on?"

"We're going back to Washington, and then we're ending this."

NCISncisNCISncis

"...And you never know when to quit!"

The man shouted, punctuating every word with a hit. Drawing his tirade to close he took a step back, breathing heavily.

Tony drew in a shuddering breath, trying to keep himself from vomiting. Closing his eyes as tight as they would go, he worked on keeping the room steady. Breathing slow and steady he tried his hardest to keep his face still, the last thing he wanted was this man seeing his pain. D*mn it, he would rather have a complete stranger see him break down than this man. He could feel the restless energy coming off the other man in waves and knew he was about to start up again. Tony swallowed quickly and opened his mouth, going back to the defense he had fallen back on since childhood.

Talking.

"You know... in the movies the hero... always plans his daring escape while the... villain is monologuing. You might want… to keep that... in mind."

The man studied his bloodied knuckles for a moment before looking down at the man barely clinging to consciousness in front of him.

"Really? You planning some ingenious escape?"

Tony took the conversation as encouragement. At least if the guy was expecting an answer, he would stop hitting him long enough to get one.

"Wow, three... whole syllables in that... word, maybe I was... wrong about your... intellectual level all... this time. And no... I'm... not planning an... escape, I don't... need to. The... calvary is coming... for me... just wait... and see."

The man snickered and hit Tony in his his abdomen, pulling a gasp from the other man.

"Here's a news flash for you DiNozzo, no one is coming for you, you are alone. No family to come searching, no friends have been asking, even your old partner has been reassigned a new sidekick. No one cares about poor Tony DiNozzo. You're not going anywhere until we are done with you."

Tony narrowed his eyes and looked at the man.

"You know...you...might be right...but that's okay...because… I left some….things behind...and when they're found...they aren't going to shine very well on you… Bergan. I might not... get out... of this...but...neither... will...you. "

The police captain's face went white, then red and he jumped at Tony, shaking him and screaming.

"You're the one who stole my files! You son of a b*tch! Where are they? I swear if you don't tell me I'm going to-"

The sound of a slamming door pulled him from his madness long enough for him to register another man's presence. The other man glared and gestured angrily for Bergan to come meet him in the corner.

Bergan glowered at Tony, and hit him once more in the face before storming across the room.

The words were too muffled for Tony to understand past the roar in his ears, but one thing did catch his attention and he smiled at his feet, his mind focusing until he could follow the rest of the conversation.

"Why the hell is NCIS looking for him? He doesn't have anything to do with the army!"

"Navy. And it doesn't matter, the boss wants to see him."

Bergan bristled.

"I don't care what he wants, things have changed and I am now in charge."

"Oh really?"

A third new voice made Tony's breath catch. He closed his eyes and schooled his expression, blocking out Bergan's stuttered explanations and subsequent dismissal as he waited for the attention to be turned back to him.

He didn't have to wait long.

He heard the sound of expensive italian shoes crossing the dirty floor.

With his eyes closed, Tony could feel rather than see the man standing in front of him. Without opening his eyes he spoke quietly.

"I guess you were right, prison just couldn't keep you."

The man nodded.

"And you were right also my friend, trouble follows you like a bad penny. It looks like it caught up with you this time though and it was a bit more than you could handle."

Tony sighed and looked up, making eye contact with the man.

"Knew you were behind this, I have to admit though, I didn't think you were the type to show up and take care of the dirty work yourself."

The man smiled.

"I don't take very well to liars, I like to handle that particular strand myself. But I must admit, this was not supposed to happen. You were supposed to be detained so I could handle you myself, not...hmm..."

Tony nodded and muttered to himself.

"Figures."

The man waved a hand to remaining muscle in the room, who brought a chair over, situating it so he sat inches from Tony.

"Do not worry, I will handle the situation. I must ask though, what files of his did you take?"

Tony raised an eyebrow.

"Handle the situation? Like your handling this one?"

The man smiled but didn't answer, merely crossed his legs and studied him carefully, waiting for an answer for his question.

Tony sighed.

"I didn't take any files. I have no idea what he is talking about."

"But you did leave information behind? How so I wonder."

Tony went silent.

There wasn't a sound from either man for a moment, each one weighing his opponent.

The other man nodded and changed the subject.

"Seeing as you are not who I believed you were, I think it is time you and I were reacquainted. Pleasure to meet you Detective Anthony DiNozzo."

Tony grinned and dipped his head, acknowledging the glock resting in the man's hands along with his new knowledge.

Advantages one and two. Looks like I'm not getting out of this one easily.

"Likewise Vittorio Malachi."

NCISncisNCISncis

If Daniel had any doubts that he had called the right man, they disappeared the moment he and Gibbs showed up at Baltimore P.D.

On the drive over to the department, he had called a man named Fornell and asked if he had found anything. Obviously what he had found was what Gibbs had suspected because he pushed the accelerator down harder and screeched into the parking lot with a move that would have made Mario Andretti weep for joy.

Storming out of the car, Gibbs walked in the department with a single minded focus, Daniel chasing behind. Stalking pasts desks, officers and criminals alike, everyone glanced up, startled at the intruder until he came to Captain Bergan's office. Not even stopping at the closed door, Gibbs walked in.

Bergan looked up from wrapping his hands, shocked at the intrusion.

"Charles Bergan?"

"Who the hell wants to know? Detective Alexander what is going on?"

Daniel didn't answer, he merely looked at Gibbs.

Gibbs narrowed his eyes, taking in the sight of Bergan's hands. The skin had been all but ripped off the man's knuckles and there was blood crusted in the man's ring.

It didn't take a criminal genius to put two and two together.

The edge of Gibbs' vision went red.

"Charles Bergan, you're coming with us."

"For what? I demand you tell me what is going on!"

Gibbs walked behind Bergan and handcuffed the man before he was able to realize what was going on.

"You are under arrest for the kidnapping of Anthony DiNozzo, conspiracy to commit murder, and the murder of Stephan Cline."

Even Daniel couldn't stop the look of shock from crossing his face.

Bergan stuttered for a moment, before shouting-

"I demand you tell me who you are!"

Gibbs was silent as he pulled Bergan from his office and paraded him past the officers.

"I don't know who you are, but I swear when this gets sorted out I will have your career and your head! Detective Alexander, you are fired! Fired do you hear me?"

Daniel smiled as he once again followed Gibbs.

"Actually Bergan, I quit."

A lieutenant stopped Gibbs halfway through the jungle of desks.

"Excuse me sir, I don't know who you think you are but-"

"Special Agent Gibbs, NCIS. And this man is wanted by the FBI and unless you want to be arrested for obstructed of justice you will get the hell out of my way."

The man skittered to the side, whispers and shocked murmurs washing over the room.

Daniel worked hard to keep the shock off his face when Gibbs mentioned the FBI.

His thoughts were moving a mile a minute as they left they building, leaving chaos in his wake.

Gibbs shoved Bergan in the back of his car and slammed the door on his face. Daniel leaned forward conspiratorially.

"I hope you're going to tell me what the hell just happened in there and how you figured it out. Not to mention how the FBI got involved."

Gibbs was serious as he headed towards the drivers seat of his car.

"Actually, Tony figured it out, I just happened to be here to take care of it."

Daniel grinned and walked towards the passenger side.

Gibbs paused, halfway around the car.

Something was wrong.

Bergan was still in the backseat, shouting.

Daniel was smirking, but looking worried, his thoughts obviously still on Tony.

Faces were peering out the windows of police department, watching their captain getting hauled away.

Everything was fine.

Something was wrong.

"Gibbs?"

He looked back at the detective.

And noticed a small red dot on his forehead.

Gibbs shouted and moved towards the other man, warning him of the danger.

An instant too late.

A shot echoed across the parking lot, and Detective Daniel Alexander, partner, friend, husband, father, fell to the ground.


	12. Chapter 12

**Hey everyone. Only one more chapter after this one! Almost done! Please tell me what you think, reviews mean a lot! Speaking of which, thank you to all of you who reviewed the last chapter, I was really unsure of what I wanted to do but I think I made the right decision, so thank you so much to all of you who are sticking with the story, it means a lot to me!**

**~Renee**

Four days.

That's how long he had been sitting in this room.

Four bloody days.

Tony sighed and looked up at the ceiling, waiting. For anything.

Man he was so bored.

He supposed he should be grateful that nothing was happening, no one had hurt him since Bergan disappeared, in fact they had been surprisingly gracious, taking him to the restroom once a day, they even brought him water.

It thoroughly unnerved him.

In the six months that he had worked with the Malachi family, he had never once seen them react like this, not to someone who betrayed them. If you turned against the family retribution was swift and painful.

Tony tapped his foot.

And waited.

He could hear the sound of muffled voices behind the door and he snapped to attention, straining to hear.

The door began to open.

NCISncisNCISncis

Fornell's grip on the car door was tight.

"Gibbs, this is a bit extreme...even for you."

He let out a slight gasp as the car narrowly dodged a pick-up truck, horns blaring in their wake.

"We have to hurry."

Tobias glanced at his friend and saw a worry there that was seldom seen.

"You're...are you alright?"

Gibbs took his eyes off the road long enough to glare at his FBI friend.

Tobias leaned against the door and raised an eyebrow.

"You only met this kid once, you're awfully concerned about him. This goes a lot further than just trying to solve another case, which I might add, isn't even in your jurisdiction."

Gibbs grunted.

"That's why I called you isn't it?"

Tobias nodded and turned back to the window.

"Gibbs, what's so special about this kid?"

Gibbs was quiet for so long, Tobias didn't think he was going to answer.

"He saw a complete stranger in trouble and helped, then offered an entire group of rude pushy people his home. Then he's in trouble he didn't have anyone else to call so he sent his partner to those same rude pushy strangers. And I don't think he expected us to really help."

Fornell nodded and turned away, leaving Gibbs to his thoughts.

Gibbs' phone broke the silence.

"Gibbs...Yeah Abs..."

Gibbs' eyes darkened as he snapped the phone shut and gripped the wheel tighter.

Tobias was quiet as he stared out the window, choosing his words carefully.

"You know...that wasn't your fault."

Gibbs growled and jerked the wheel to the left.

"How far behind is back-up?"

Fornell slipped back into FBI mode.

"Ten minutes. How far are we?"

"We're here."

NCISncisNCISncis

Vittorio Malachi stood in front of Tony with a calculated expression.

Tony sat back in the chair, trying to look as relaxed as possible, with a lazy smile on his face.

"So Vittorio, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Tessie Alexander."

Tony went dead serious.

"You stay away from her. You do whatever the hell you want with me, but you leave that family alone."

Vittorio sighed and gently stroked the gun resting in his hands.

"I'm afraid it's too late for that. That family has been irrevocably changed."

Tony strained at the ropes holding him to the chair.

"You b*st*rd, what did you do?"

"No need for language Anthony. I merely needed to make a point. When you go against the family, your family must pay. And since you have so little family, we had to find the one you made. Now I'm afraid young Tessie will learn what it's like to grow up without a father. I wonder what she will think when she finds her father died searching for you, the man who will never be found. Poor Tessie. Losing her father and best friend all in the same day. I wonder how Marissa will handle it?"

Tony couldn't move, couldn't think. All he could feel was rage, pain, hatred, sorrow. He wanted nothing more than to wipe the satisfied expression from Vittorio's face, but he couldn't move. He could barely breathe.

"Do not worry Anthony, I will not leave you to your sorrow long, I am just, not cruel. Your betrayal took men from me, so I had to take one from you. Now I will simply take your life."

Vittorio raised the gun.

NCISncisNCISncis

Gibbs pulled the car to a halt outside of the abandoned storage facilities. Sparing a glance at Tobias, he nodded and the left the car.

"No look outs."

"Confident."

"Or stupid."

Tobias smirked. Gibbs was not in a happy place and he could almost pity the man who took this Tony. Almost.

"Do we know which one?"

Gibbs dipped his head to the farthest container before making his way.

They were halfway there before they heard the voices.

"I heard it hit the forehead, perfect shot."

"No man, chest work. The guy was alive until the ambulance got there. Last I saw the man was loaded in and still breathing."

"Ha! That man was blown away."

Gibbs' grip on his sig. went tight as he followed the conversation.

With a look to Tobias the two took the corner.

"FBI, put your hands in the air!"

One of the men grabbed for a gun, but a shot from Gibbs took him down permanently before he could bring it up. Tobias grabbed the other man.

"Seven minutes until back up."

Gibbs continued to the storage unit.

He sighed and cuffed the man to a pipe, ensuring he wasn't going anywhere.

The two came to the right number and braced themselves.

Tobias nodded and grabbed the door.

NCISncisNCISncis

The burst of noise and shock of pain came in the same instant.

One minute Vittorio was aiming his gun for his forehead, the next the door was open and people were shouting. And the shot went down.

Tony couldn't stop the cry of pain as the bullet hit his shoulder.

His vision went fuzzy, but that didn't stop him from seeing Vittorio hit the ground in rush of noise and blood.

Tony swallowed back the nausea the pain brought on and forced his eyes to focus on who was crashing the party now.

"Ton-DiNozzo. You with me?"

"Special Agent Gibbs." He croaked.

Gibbs nodded and pulled a knife from his pocket and made quick work of the ropes holding Tony. Tony watched him carefully, trying to get the words past a throat that really didn't want to work.

"Gibbs, tell me he lied. Please, tell me Daniel is okay. Tell me he found you and he is safe at home. Tell me… tell me everyone is okay."

Gibbs blinked.

Oh that man was cruel.

Tony tried to ask again, but he couldn't get the words out. His eyes couldn't focus.

The edges were going black and still trying to ask about Daniel, he lost consciousness.

Gibbs put pressure on the shoulder and yelled for an ambulance while whispering to Tony.

"It's going to be alright Tony, stay with me, hold on."

NCISncisNCISncis

Beep beep beep

"Stupid alarm. I'm fired, I don't have to get up. Go away."

"Tony."

Tony opened his eyes and looked around.

"Did I redecorate?"

"Tony!"

He looked to the left and saw a young woman, with black pigtails watching him carefully holding a vase of black roses.

"Tony...are you alright?"

"….Abby! Hi! I'm fine! I'm great...I'm on painkillers. Sh*t. Why did Daniel let them give me painkillers? I hate painkillers. They make me a little…loopy."

Abby grinned slightly and put the roses on the table next to him.

"I can tell. How do you feel?"

Tony thought about it for a moment. Actually he couldn't feel much of anything. It felt like his head was disconnected from his body.

"I feel...high."

She smiled a sad smile.

"Well considering the amount of painkillers your on, I'm not surprised."

Tony grinned at her.

"Not that I'm not happy to see you again Abby, but where's Daniel, normally he's here chewing my *ss off for landing in the hospital again."

Abby glanced at the door.

"I should let Gibbs explain."

"Abby?"

Tony didn't like the look on her face.

She paused and looked at him, before abruptly throwing herself at him. Gently wrapping her arms around him. Tony tried to hold back the jump of surprise.

She whispered in his ear.

"I'm so glad you're okay."

"Okay isn't exactly the word I would use Abigail. Our dear Anthony has been in better shape."

Abby looked up and at Ducky who stood at the door with Gibbs who spoke quietly.

"Considering the alternative?"

Ducky grimaced and gestured for Abby.

"Come along Abigail, let's give them a chance to talk."

Abby nodded and gave Tony another gentle squeeze.

"Everything is going to be okay."

Tony nodded and watched her go.

Gibbs walked in the room quietly and sat in the chair Abby had vacated.

"Agent Gibbs. Thank you. I know I'm not exactly in your jurisdiction but...thank you."

Gibbs nodded.

The two regarded each other in silence for a long minute.

Surprisingly it was Gibbs who spoke first.

"What do you remember?"

"Left Daniel a voicemail. That I am assuming you all figured out. Was dragged to some storage containers in the docks, met a very p.o'd Bergan. Vittorio showed up, talking, you came..."

There was something he needed to remember.

He didn't want to, but he needed to.

Something bad.

Daniel.

His eyes shot to Gibbs.

"Tell me he lied."

"I'm sorry."

Tony closed his eyes.

"He was shot in the head, it was very fast, he didn't feel anything."

Tony clenched his fists and leaned against the pillows.

"Didn't feel anything. That's comforting. I'll be sure to mention that when I tell Tessie."

Gibbs winced.

"Tony...I'm sorry."

Tony sighed and shook his head.

"No, please don't…. I'm not...It's not your fault Agent Gibbs...It's mine. I never should have gotten him involved in this."

Gibbs raised an eyebrow.

"You really think you could have kept him out?"

Tony stared at the window, his voice quiet.

"I could have tried."

"Tony-"

"I'm sorry Agent Gibbs, but do you mind, I'm feeling kind of tired."

Gibbs nodded and stood, walking slowly from the room.

He closed the door behind him but remained standing outside of it.

And waited.

The expected sound of shattering glass met his ears. He sighed and leaned against the door.

Ducky came walking down the hall.

"Jethro? How is he doing?"

"How do you think he's doing Duck? The man just lost his partner, his friend. His...family. Daniel was the man's d*mn next of kin."

Ducky nodded.

"Abigail did some more research on his family while he was in surgery to try and find someone to call, she wanted me to bring it to you. I think you may be more right than you know. Daniel was all the dear boy had."

Gibbs sighed and took the papers.

"Jethro… I know we haven't known the boy long, but-"

"I know Duck. I know."

NCISncisNCISncis

An hour later Gibbs gripped the files with angry hands as he stormed down the hall to find Abby.

She was sitting in the waiting room with Ducky.

"Gibbs?"

He handed her the papers and turned to Ducky.

"Please kindly explain to me what a twelve year old would do to justify being disowned by his father?"

Ducky's eyes widened.

"Oh my."

Gibbs turned and walked back down the hall.

"Gibbs? Where are you going?"

Abby shouted after him.

Gibbs didn't answer so Abby turned to Ducky.

The older man looked at Abby with a thoughtful look on his face.

"I believe Abigail that Tony may be just what Gibbs needs."

Abby looked towards the vanishing figure of Gibbs and the curious expression on Ducky's face.

"What? So where is he going?"

"To find what they are both looking for."

NCISncisNCISncis

Gibbs stepped back into the room. Tony was asleep, shards of broken glass scattered across the floor and black roses now sitting a glass of water rather in the vase that used to be whole.

He saved Abby's roses

He sighed and sat down, watching the younger man sleep. he had decided against calling his family, the kid was going to be fine, there was no need to bring estranged family members into this mess. That was up to Tony. Heaven knew so little was up to him at this point.

Gibbs looked at the younger man closely and saw the tear tracks streaming down his face as he slept.

"Oh Tony."

Gibbs shook his head.

He settled himself further into the chair and waited. He was going to have questions when he woke up, and Gibbs was going to be here to answer them.


	13. Chapter 13

Tony opened his eyes to find a grey haired man staring at him. He sighed and looked up at the ceiling.

"Hey Agent Gibbs."

"Gibbs."

Tony rolled back over to look at the man.

"What?"

"Just Gibbs."

Tony shrugged then winced.

"Alright."

The room was quiet.

"How did you find me."

Gibbs leaned back in his chair and watched the other man carefully.

"Between your voicemail, a bug we found in your apartment and what we got from Bergan things just fell into place."

Tony sat up, wincing at the pain it caused.

"My apartment was bugged?"

Gibbs gently pushed the man back down.

"Bergan broke into your place and planted the bug near the end of your undercover. It wasn't Cline who broke your cover, it was Bergan, Cline just took the fall, then Bergan had him taken care of. But you already had that figured out, that's why you mentioned him, you knew we would go looking. Same with Bergan. We would investigate both of them closer and see how they tied in with Malachi."

Tony nodded.

"I had gotten the last puzzle piece that night."

Gibbs dipped his head knowingly.

"Turns out the bug he planted wasn't activated until you got home and then it was transmitting to straight to where the rest of the Malachi was hiding. We got them by the way."

Tony shuddered.

"So they had been watching me since I got home?"

Gibbs nodded.

Tony fought back the urge to throw up.

Seeing his reaction, Gibbs placed a grounding hand on his shoulder and began speaking again, giving him something to focus on rather than the feeling of violation.

"I called in a favor to the FBI to check on Cline who had been missing and never showed up at the prison. Turns out his body had been dumped at a landfill, with just enough evidence to tie it to Bergan. Picked up Bergan and brought him back to Washington where he was...persuaded to give up your location."

Gibbs was careful to leave out just how the marine had convinced the dirty cop to give Tony back.

Tony screwed the corner of his mouth.

"When in all of this did Daniel get shot?"

"When we picked up Bergan."

Tony furrowed his brow.

"Why they didn't shoot Bergan? They knew he knew where I was, they could have gotten rid of a liability right there. They wanted to shoot Daniel... but why didn't they take care of Bergan too?"

Gibbs raised an eyebrow at the man. Beaten, shot, grieving and doped up so high his eyes could barely focus and the kid was still thinking like an investigator.

Abby was right, they didn't make them like this anymore.

"They tried. Two more shots came out, one caught Bergan in the arm, but he stayed down in the backseat. They assumed he was killed and didn't bother to check."

Tony grunted.

"Never assume."

"Rule 37." Gibbs replied.

"Rule… Okay. So, bad guys all go to jail, loose ends are tied up. Everything is taken care of. Bergan ends up living the rest of his life in a prison cell with a scarred arm and Daniel rots in a box."

Gibbs was quiet, listening the bitterness in the man's tone. There were several things he could say to the wounded man. He had said them to grieving family members, and heard them all himself and one thing about them always remained the same.

They were only words.

So he said the first thing that came to mind.

"You saved the roses."

Tony was pulled from his dark musings.

"Excuse me?"

Gibbs gestured towards the glass of water that now held a dozen black roses. Tony blushed.

"I didn't want to hurt her feeling."

Gibbs nodded.

Tony sighed.

"So, what's the damage?"

Gibbs raised an eyebrow.

"Three broken ribs, a pretty good concussion, through and through to the shoulder, cracked cheek bone, heavily bruised jaw. Actually an *ss load of bruises."

Tony nodded and rolled his eyes.

"Another concussion. Of course."

Gibbs grunted in response.

The room lapsed into silence.

"Gibbs… I don't suppose… I mean I wouldn't blame them if they didn't but… I guess… I was wondering..."

"They stopped by. Marissa wanted you to have this."

Gibbs handed Tony a thick envelope.

Tony swallowed, this throat tight.

"Would you like me to leave?"

"No!"

Tony startled himself by the intensity of his reply, but Gibbs didn't react, merely settled himself in his chair.

With shaky hands Tony opened the envelope and pulled two letters. Recognizing both Marissa's elegant script and Tessie's six year old scrawl, he held Tessie's close as he opened Marissa's letter.

_Tony,_

_My Daniel died a hero, he died trying to save someone he loved, his friend, his brother. I want you to know that I do not blame you for this. I never will and neither would Daniel. He made his own choices, and if you wouldn't have come to him for help he never would have forgiven himself. He loved you Tony, you were more than his partner, you were something special to all of us, and you still are. I will be thinking of you, but you have to know that I'm taking Tessie and we are going to Colorado, back to my parents. I can't stay here, all I can see is Daniel, everywhere I turn. I can't do this, not alone but I can't watch you give up the rest of your life taking care of us, because you would, without me ever asking. For me and Tessie and Daniel, you would do anything, and with that knowledge and love I can go home. Take that love and loyalty and find a new family Tony, you deserve someone to take care of you for once. Please Tony, please do not blame yourself for what happened. Do not let your life stop here. There is so much waiting for you, please go find it_.

_Always,_

_Marissa Alexander._

Tony closed his eyes and closed the letter, slowly sliding it back into its' envelope.

Tessie's letter was waiting.

"Tony?"

"I'm fine."

His voice was strangled.

He slowly opened the letter.

**Dear Tony,**

**Mommy says that Daddy is in heaven. Like when Billy my goldfish died and Daddy buried him in the backyard and he went away forever. I don't want my Daddy to go away forever. I want him to come back and see me. I miss you Tony and I miss my Daddy. Mommy says that we're going to live with Grandma and Grandpa for a while. I like it there, I have a room that's purple and they have a dog. I like dogs. Daddy said for my next birthday I could get a dog. But Daddy's in heaven now. Do you think he could see me when I play with Grandma's dog? I don't feel like playing anymore and all Mommy does is cry. I don't like it when Mommy cries. Do you ever cry? Daddy used to say it was okay to cry, but it when you were done crying you had to get up and fix what was wrong so you wouldn't cry anymore. I don't know how to fix Mommy to make her stop crying. Mommy says that Daddy died doing something very brave, that he was trying to save someone he loved. That makes me happy, I'm glad. Daddy loved a lot of people like Mommy and me and you and I'm glad that he was doing something nice for someone he loved. Mommy says we're not going to see you anymore when we go to Grandma's. I wish you could come with us. Don't forget me Tony. I won't ever forget you. I'll miss you.**

**I love you Tony.**

**Tessie**

Tony cleared his throat and put the letter with Marissa's.

Gibbs watched him carefully.

"Tony?"

"Yeah."

"Marissa spoke to me. She wanted you to know, this wasn't your fault."

Tony nodded.

"Yeah, that's what people keep telling me."

Gibbs reached out a hand and gently squeezed Tony's arm. He looked up sorrow written across his face, his eyes edged with red.

"I miss him Gibbs."

"I know."

NCISncisNCISncis

"Tony!"

Tony looked up and smiled at Abby.

"Hey Abs, you here to save me? I'm about to go out of my mind with boredom."

She beamed at him and plopped in the chair next to him.

"I hear you're getting out tomorrow!"

He nodded.

"Thank goodness, five days of this is enough."

She grinned.

"Darn those doctors and their desires to keep their patients healthy."

Tony rolled his eyes at her and smiled.

"So what do you have for me today?"

She pulled some cards from her purse.

"Poker."

He cracker his knuckles.

"Let's do this."

Gibbs and Ducky stood at the door watching silently.

"Have you asked him yet?"

Gibbs shook his head.

"Are you planning to?"

"Yup."

Ducky sighed.

"Jethro..."

"I'm asking him tomorrow Duck. Wanted to give him time."

Ducky nodded.

"He has bounced back tremendously well."

Gibbs narrowed his eyes.

"Not as well as you would think."

Ducky turned to look at his friend.

"What do you mean?"

Gibbs sighed.

"Nothing."

He turned and walked down the hall. Ducky shook his head and walked into the room, ready to join the fun.

Gibbs sat on a bench outside the hospital.

He meant what he said. Tony was coping, and well, but he knew what the younger man was hiding. He had stopped by the night before and found him staring out the window, tears quietly streaming down his face. He had watched him wake up silently from a nightmare and shake it off like it was nothing. He used his pull to check Tony's visiter logs and found that other than him, Ducky and Abby, not a single person had stopped by.

He really was alone.

Gibbs sighed and looked up at the building. He had come by everyday, making the drive from Washington to Baltimore. Sitting with the younger man for a few hours every evening. Sometimes talking, sometimes finding an old movie on the hospitals cable, sometimes just sitting in silence. Tony had been surprised the first time he had come back, he obviously wasn't expecting to see him again, but Gibbs took it in stride, helping him deal with the loss, pain and guilt wrecking him from the inside out.

It was a strange feeling, worrying about someone this much, when you had known them for so short a time.

Gibbs stood from the bench and began to pace, thinking about the day to come.

Tony would have a home to go to tomorrow no matter what his decision, Gibbs had spent the last two days cleaning Tony's apartment. There wasn't much left, but it no longer looked like a war zone. Hopefully he wouldn't need it though.

He shook his head and headed back into the building.

NCISncisNCISncis

Tony winced as he pulled his jacket on. He was finally getting the hell out of the hospital and he couldn't get out of there fast enough. Grabbing his bag he walked to desk, signed the last of the papers and headed towards the exit. Tony sighed when he breathed in the fresh air and felt the sunshine. It felt like years since he had been outside.

Gibbs stood a few feet off and smiled when he saw the flash of joy on the other man's face.

Tony sighed and turned, walking down the street. He knew he should call a cab, but he really just couldn't resist the chance to enjoy the day.

"Your apartment's that way."

Tony grinned but didn't stop walking.

"Best Italian place is this way. No food in fridge or did you forget?"

Gibbs' lips twitched and he caught pace with the other man.

"Ducky was cursing your lack of nutrition all the way home."

Tony laughed.

"I bet. What are you doing here Gibbs, not that it's not great to see you, but I thought you'd be back in Washington."

Gibbs nodded.

"Had something to pick up."

Tony raised his eyebrows and then shrugged, fighting back curiosity.

"Alrighty. Well since you're here, care to join me for lunch?"

Gibbs smiled.

"Don't mind if I do, had a question for you anyway."

The restaurant was nothing fancy, more a hole in the wall than anything else.

Tony walked in and waved at the three of the servers, calling all of them by name. They all smiled and replied in turn.

"Grab any table Tony!"

Tony smiled and slid in a booth by a window. Gibbs sat across from him and pulled out a menu.

"What's good?"

Tony laughed.

"This is Serina's place, everything is good."

A plump woman, who looked as Italian as they came shouted something unintelligible and came running from across the room.

"Antonio!"

Tony's smile lit up the booth.

"Serina!"

Gibbs watched with amusement as a conversation played out in front of him in Italian.

Well that explains the language that Abby couldn't identify. He speaks Italian. That should have been obvious.

Gibbs attention snapped back when he heard his name. He found himself shaking hands with the bright smiling woman.

"I know exactly what you need, I be right back!"

She scurried off and shouted something in Italian to the kitchen.

Tony chuckled.

"You're in for a treat, if Serina's picking your meal, you're getting the best of the best."

"Italian?"

Tony's grin dimmed.

"Father was Italian, mother was British, grew up learning both. That the question you had for me?"

Gibbs took the change of subject and filed the information away.

"Yeah, how do you feel about Washington?"

Tony raised an eyebrow.

"Washington?"

Gibbs nodded.

"I need a Senior Field Agent."

Tony blinked.

"Are you...offering me a job?"

"Are you interested?"

Tony opened his mouth then shut it again. He blinked several times.

Gibbs waited.

Tony smiled.

"Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo. Very Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo. That I could get used to."

Gibbs smiled.

Yeah, he could get used to it too.

**And that is it! Being Careful is finished! Thank you so much to everyone who stuck through to the end of the story, all the reviews and PM's that people sent, it all meant so much! I hope you all enjoyed the story and please tell me what you think of the wrap-up! Thanks for reading!**

**God Bless**

**Renee**


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